Jupiter's Reign
by IdentityCrisis.03
Summary: "To live longer, or die faster… you might just be our only hope." After the corruption of the Gladiolus Empire a hundred years ago, the newly crowned King is desperate to finally bring his country back to peace. Three generations later, they're still fighting fire with fire. OC Submission Closed
1. Prologue

**Welcome to my new OC story! This will probably be updated sporadically as I do have another story I write. Mainly when I have a burst of inspiration. I'm hoping for longish chapters, and it'll probably be updated at least once a month. But if I manage to get a good hang of things, there might be a regular update of 2-3 weeks.**

 **Genres overall for this story will mostly include; Adventure, action and (attempted) humour– maybe along with a little bit of drama and romance?**

 ***PLEASE* read the prologue to understand the how the story will be followed. Other than that, I can't wait to see everyone's OCs!**

 **ALSO:** _**This prologue is set to be in the arc that comes after the introductions, so please keep that in mind for the future, as it's important**_ **.**

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 **October 15, X821 [12:35pm]**

 _Over 100 years ago,_ Gladiolus _lost its glory to the_ Raiders _; the ones who opposed the kingdom and its laws. Hell broke loose and war fell upon their land. Lives were lost, and the empire was pushed into a smaller area – beaten down by the works of_ magic _._ Gladiolus _lived in despair for almost 60 years, as their king was only a coward whose respect was left behind after the failed project to take his territory back. But of course, after the King passed away, the first in line was given the throne._

 _He was quite mighty himself, much different from his father. A real leader that was fit to be king. Gathering new forces, he set off to get his dominion back. But alas, all was in vain, as_ Gladiolus _was once again defeated by powerful_ magic _. So he approached differently, he began to work to slowly restore what little he had left; he decided to fight back with what they'd lost to. The King created a small force with the handful of brains and brawn that secretly wielded their own powers. Slowly, but surely… they began to restore faith; all within the hands of the unknown organisation –_ Jupiter's Reign _._

 _A new story begins as the crown is passed down to yet another generation. The third King to rule with the small guild of magical companions to be exact. After growing up with the guild around him, he easily accepted the help of the undercover organisation and quickly followed in his father's footsteps. As a new, young ruler, he only wished the best for his citizens – and thus begun an era of renewed hope._

…

In the town of _Stone Cress_ , a large castle sat in the city centre whilst the folk moved carefully around the structure, enjoying the sunny day. Small houses littered the streets, and a large fountain could be found in the city square garden that was filled with brightly coloured flowers that lead up to the castle steps. People milled about, buying fresh products from the market, taking their time and engaging in small conversation. But despite the idyllic scene that people saw on the outside, the chaos within the castle walls was a little less tranquil.

Rushed footsteps made their way to the throne room where the King and his Queen were holding a meeting. Forgetting to knock, he simply threw open the doors as each member of the Southern Wing participating in the conference turned toward the man who'd hurried in, all seemingly unfazed by the interruption. The caballero looked as though he'd been running for a good ten minutes. Sweat ran down his face as he hunched over to regain his breath.

"Excuse me, Mr Knight, but it's best if you stand up straighter when trying to get your breath back – that way it exposes your lungs more and you have better access to fresh air." Someone commented. Albeit it was a little blunt.

The man did as he was told, and soon was able to speak fluently again. Standing up straight, he faced the King with a tense expression. "W-We've got some problems… and I'm not sure if you'll like it." He paused, but then added as an afterthought, "Your majesty."

"You. You're from the Eastern Wing." King Decim eyed the blue brigandine before rising slowly from his seat. The man was a tall brunette, the stubble of a beard forming on his five o'clock jaw. His eyes were a deep green, matching the emerald jewel embedded into his silver crown. Royal robes pooled at his feet once he stood and walked down the steps, passing by the South Wing, "What's the report?"

The mere knight just gazed at everyone else in the room a hesitant glance. There were many stories of the greatness that they'd achieved – but being a minor caused him to be rather judgemental as he did not know of the group on a more personal level – unlike his Admiral.

The royal frowned, "Ahem. There's no reason for you to pause; everyone in this room is harmless. No one will hurt each other unless I give word." His voice boomed with authority.

"Of course your highness," He coughed and began to speak a little louder, "The Eastern Admiral has received some reports that people in the outer districts are beginning to rebel. They're letting some of the lower ranked Raiders in through our borders. Maybe they've given up hope. Or rather, they've been blackmailed. We're unsure how far they've spread as of now."

"This is preposterous! They're just trying to rile us up! If the five leaders aren't crossing themselves, then they're obviously still waiting for something to happen!" The Queen too, rose from her throne. Zena had hazel eyes and platinum hair pulled up into an elaborate up-do. Her own dress was a royal blue with golden embroidery and a round bump was beginning to show through the skirt. The Queen seemed genuinely worried, and the King went to comfort her.

"Sir, if you'd like we can…" a South Wing member spoke up from their position at the meeting table.

The young King sighed, upset that things were beginning to go downhill so quickly. He felt as though the Raiders were sending him a message – one that told him he was weak since he was the new ruler. He looked upon those who were gathered at the table, and then back to the knight standing by the door. "Tell your leader that the South Wing will take care of this. But if they keep on crossing the border, we'll have to ask you to stay on guard."

"But they'll just keep coming if we don't secure the perimeter. And we can't get them to stay away… not without a war."

Amused, the King gave a small smile, "My, speaking back to your own highness?" The knight swallowed visibly. The man then continued, "Although, I'll let you off in the meantime. Now, if you could please head back to your station, I have some things to discuss. Of course, our boundaries will be secured in no time." He gestured to the group who was still waiting patiently for him to resume their meeting.

"Yes, your highness!" the messenger saluted and quickly left to inform his leader.

"Now, back to business." The man spoke cheerfully after a moment of silence. He turned back to his wife who smiled reassuringly despite being the one who was comforted just moments before. "As you know, we recently received a lot of requests for help from the people of Gladiolus, and that's usually your job to fix it without being seen." He paced the room.

"But this time we'll have to leave it to the other squadrons. Since the Raiders have managed to invade, you'll have to force them back out. I'm going to give you a little under a week to prepare… so hopefully not too much damage will be done." Queen Zena spoke before she walked over to pat her husband on the back. She'd calmed down from her outburst earlier, scared that her stress could affect the growing life within her stomach.

He nodded after a moment of thought, "Yes. The North Wing will take care of the requests; we'll have to send them out into the lime light just this once. And whilst you all prepare, I'll ask the West Wing to hold them off for the time being."

"That seems quite fair to me." Someone from the South Wing agreed, crossing their arms.

The ruler cleared his throat, "You shall depart in six days. Please make thorough plans before then. Dismissed."

"Yes, master!" One by one, each of the guild members stood up to bow before trooping out of the room. Once outside the throne room, they headed to their area of the castle. Footsteps echoed off the walls of the otherwise silent hallway as they walked. They were all elated to be able to finally do something, as it'd been at least a couple of months since they'd all banded together besides working at the odd job or two.

"Sometimes I forget how callous the master can be." They clenched their fists, "It's been a while since I've gotten blood on my hands."

The person beside her simply rolled their eyes. "Mind you, he doesn't actually mean for us to kill them – just ruffle their feathers a bit… actually never mind, he probably wants a blood bath." He yawned and strode ahead of the girl, "And he acts like such a gentle King to the public." He snorted. "I'll race ya back to our main hall?"

She chuckled, "You're on!" she then turned around to face the rest of her guild mates, "Catch all of you later!" she sent them a quick wave before zooming off. Her resounding laughter bounced off the walls the further she ran, and everyone could hear her for at least another half-minute after she left.

The rest of the guild sighed at their antics. "Back when I was still new and training…" one trailed off in reminiscence. He placed a hand on his shoulder, "But of course, they'll get a reality check one day."

Minutes later they'd all arrived back at their guild – stopping once to ask one of the castle maids to bring them their lunch. The two who'd rushed ahead before them sat on the large round table in the centre of the building.

"How many times do we have to tell you to stop sitting on the surface we eat our meals on?" One of them chided, closing the door behind them. The all took their place in a seat around the table. But before they could continue, a timid knock sounded at the door and multiple maids and butlers walked in after they gave the signal.

"Erm, you called for lunch?" The four who'd entered with small trolleys began to pick up the dishes and place them on the table. They were always given a variety of dishes for every meal – therefore no one would have too many complaints. Ranging from red meat to a simple salad, they were all put in the centre of the table.

"Thank you, we really do appreciate it." One of the elder members coughed politely as everyone else around the table said their thanks as well. Once all the plates were handed out, the helpers left them quickly with a bow. The elder sighed, "Well then, maybe we should eat lunch first?"

The guild quickly went about their business, handing certain dishes over to certain people as if it were a routine. The room was silent for a while, the only sounds being made were the clinking of utensils and the occasional murmur of thanks. After they'd all settled in, the elder spoke up once again.

"As we all know, some of us are not in castle grounds for the time being. But nonetheless, shall we begin with our plan?"

* * *

 **So welcome to Jupiter's Reign! A guild who holds both their independent rights, yet work under the ruler of their own kingdom. The people of the guild do not use magic outside of the castle unless it's during a mission, as the nation is weary about it due to the attacks of the Raiders.**

 **If you noticed; I didn't formally introduce anyone except kinda the King and Queen, that's because I don't want to have so many characters of my own, so I've limited myself to only one in the guild. It would be weird if I introduced her in this 'prologue' without revealing the other guild members' identities though. So I've tried to keep it vague for now.**

 **Anyway – with the application – there are rules, so read through them carefully. Fill it out accordingly, as the more informed I am about your OC, the better the story/the better I understand your character. Please bear in mind it is quite a long form to fill out.**

 **It is posted on my profile – so it's easier to copy and paste. Also, there is an option to create an OC for Raider positions – just PM me and I'll get back to you with a different form. Of course, the same rules will apply.**


	2. Introduction I

**So thanks to those who've sent me an OC so far! I hope I've introduced and depicted the well in this chapter… of course not all of them sent in have appeared yet.**

 **This chapter was typed up fairly quickly because new story; more ideas and inspirations I guess.**

 **Those who're new to this story, I'm still accepting OC, like it says on the summary ^_^**

* * *

"Erm, how much does this cost?" A pale hand reached out to point at a glass trinket – perfect to add to her own collection.

The merchant looked up to see a familiar woman. Her long, bright orange hair stuck out from the crowd as she elegantly tucked a loose strand behind her ear and her amber eyes were quite fox-like. The woman stood at about 5'7 with an athletic figure, and the tight jeans she wore accentuated her longer legs. She was also wearing a floral blouse and a pair of red flats on her feet. She had small, flower studded piercings in each ear and freckles dotted her rosy cheeks, dimples showing as she graced the man with a smile.

"Charlie, it's been a while since I've seen you! Is being a florist for the King really keeping you that busy?"

The woman – Charlie, simply blushed. "Ah well, it's something along the lines of that." Of course, she wasn't _actually_ the Royal florist, many people had just assumed from her outfit of many flowers. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out some jewel. "Anyway, is this enough?" she handed him the money in exchange for the small glass statue.

The man waved her off, "No, no! Just take it for free. Consider it a gift for your twenty-second birthday!"

"Eh? I couldn't possibly! And my birthday was months ago!" She exclaimed, forcefully placing the money into his open palm. "And besides, think about your family… I'm sure you need this money more than I do."

He stopped, the thought having never occurred to him. Eyeing her wearily, he took the money and carefully wrapped the ornament in newspaper, "I suppose you're right. You're much too kind for your own good Charlie. I don't think I'd ever be able to repay you."

Taking the wrapped item from the merchant, she carefully placed it into her satchel before facing him with another glowing smile. "Well then Mister, all I ask of you is to never give up hope!" With a cheery wave, she didn't wait for him to reply as she disappeared into the early morning crowd.

Moving through the mass of people, many people called out to her as she began to make her way to the post department, where multiple horses and carriages were lined up respectively behind the name of a certain city. She quickly greeted them all back, used to her known presence around town as a 'superior florist'. She supposed it was from the large flower garden leading up to the steps of the palace. When she'd finally managed to break away from the throng of people, she could see her carriage leaving its station. Amber eyes widening, shed began a mad dash to chase after it, occasionally calling out in hopes to get the driver's attention.

"Mr Horseman!" Faintly, she could see him jump in his seat, but slow down nonetheless. She continued to run, breathing heavily from the crisp air stinging her throat. "I caught up! I'm sorry if I've delayed you Sir." Charlie rummaged through her satchel, "But please, if you could post this."

Taking the letter, the man tipped his hat before placing it neatly on the top of the pile. "No worries Miss… Charlie was it?"

"Hmm? Yes, that's me."

"Well, Miss Charlie. Don't be late next time, I might not wait for you anymore."

Redness fought its way up her neck, "Y-Yes. I'm really sorry – it won't happen again."

A hearty laugh was heard as he loosened his grip on the reins and the carriage began to move forward once again. "I was only joking Miss," he called back, "you always send mail on Thursdays. I'll be waiting from now on."

A smile crept up onto her face as she waved him off, "Thank you so much, Sir!"

.

A 19 year old boy stepped back to admire his work with light grey, half-lidded eyes. He stood at 5'6 with a lithe body type, bronze skin looking almost shiny under the light of the chandelier. His messy, dark green hair was at shoulder length but was tied up into a short ponytail. Two beauty spots were prominent just below his left eye. He wore baggy orange pants along with a simple grey t-shirt; black shoes could be seen on his feet. Around both his wrists were an assortment of bracelets, helping to draw eyes toward his identical swirled sleeve-tattoos, inked from his hands up to his elbows. And although unseen, a white guild mark of a King's chess piece was located on his left shoulder blade.

"Perfect." He spoke, eyes flickering across the now perfectly arranged bookshelf. Heaven forbid it to be so disorganised. He then left the room and headed in the direction of the palace garden where it was now quite sunny.

On his way there, he passed by the kitchen and – by mistake – took a deep breath. His eyes lit up as he quickly popped his head inside, startling one of the chefs. "Oh, Chef Maria!"

"What are you doing here, boy?" the woman grumbled. She didn't like people barging into the kitchen unauthorised. She stirred the content of the soup pot once more.

A grin spread across his features, "Are you, by any chance, cooking spicy beef ball and noodle soup?" he sniffed the air again just to make sure.

The chef didn't look too impressed. "As usual, your sense of smell when it comes to food with spice is impeccable." She commented blandly.

"Well, send a bowl to the garden will ya?" he gave a childish poke of a tongue before leaving. The door slammed shut, causing her to jump again.

"Reese Meadows, you know that won't be happening!" Maria shouted, though it was half-heartedly as she knew she'd end up doing so anyway. She'd become fond of the guild members after all; being a chef at the castle for over twenty years just turned her into a big softie.

Faintly in the distance, she could hear Reese laughing. "But Maria, you always say that and end up contradicting yourself!"

The gardens within the castle walls was actually quite extravagant. Ivy crept up the stone building, and different plants could be seen everywhere. Tea tables littered the grass area for the garden parties the Queen often held. But this was only half of the actual garden; a more private area could be found behind a curtain of willow trees. It was mainly for Jupiter's Reign members only, but the often made exceptions anyway.

Reese only had to wait for about five minutes before food arrived, the butler set the bowl down before him and he quickly said grace before digging in. About halfway through a mouthful, the butler turned to leave but was stopped by a grunt.

Swallowing his noodles, he spoke convincingly, "No, stay for a while. Talk with me or something – you look like you need a break."

The man stopped in his tracks, considering this for a while. Technically, he'd only started his shift at the castle ten minutes ago, but the way Reese had spoken made him feel like he'd been working for hours. "I-I guess a few minutes won't hurt."

The grey-eyed boy smiled. "Great!" He immediately began to chatter away about random topics he found interest in, letting the butler speak of his own opinions from time to time. Neither of them noticed a whole hour go by.

.

A heavy thud rung through the room as ginger ears pricked up and the fox scampered to its owner. "Hey Geiko." The girl murmured, absentmindedly scratching her pet's ears as she adjusted to the amount of light in the room after pulling up her red eye-mask. The fox nuzzled its nose into her hand and whined. "M'fine…"

Yawning, Ancidia Rokuro untangled herself from the blankets on the floor before reaching upward to stretch her curvaceous body. Currently in her sleepwear, she wore a sleeveless top with a large strawberry printed in the middle along with matching black, strawberry patterned shorts. Her aqua guild mark could be seen peeking through the top of her shirt on the swell of her left breast. Opening her doe eyes fully this time, her irises flashed a crystal blue with a hint of spring green in the direct sunlight. Her skin was a peachy colour with a natural blush spread across it.

Currently standing at 5'7, her dark blue hair had been left growing for quite a while as it reached down to her thighs. Fixing her bed hair into a side bang and sweeping the rest up into a simple ponytail, she walked over to grab a fresh set of clothes from her closet, brushing past the various plush toys and framed photographs on the shelf next to it.

Ten minutes later, she felt much more refreshed and awake. Placing a small box inside the pocket of her jean shorts, she left her room. Geiko made sure to follow at a steady place by her side, occasionally brushing it tail against Ancidia's leg. As she walked with an upbeat step, a small purple gem with diamonds encrusted into it hung on a necklace that kept swaying back and forth, sunlight hitting the gem and causing purple to reflect onto the walls of the hallway.

Being in one of the highest rooms of the castle, she swiftly descended the stairs – stomach growling in need of food. Frowning slightly, she reached the bottom of the steps and made a sharp left turn. Humming cheerily beneath her breath, she decided it'd be a good time to pop by and check on Chef Maria whilst grabbing a bite to eat at the same time.

"Geiko, mind waiting for me out here? I won't be too long! I'll bring you some pancakes." She turned to pet her fox as she reached the kitchen. "You know Chef Maria wouldn't be too pleased if you came inside." Whining slightly, the furry animal nuzzled her before seating itself next to the entrance and began to lick its paws.

Pushing the door open, she made her presence known by greeting everyone in the room loudly. "Morning everyone!" Sniffing the air once she raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Did Reese get to you again, Chef Maria?"

The lady shrugged, "He's a persuasive young man."

"I'd have to agree with you upon that. Have you made pancakes this morning by any chance?" The 18 year old looked around the room.

"Of course dear, ice cream on top?"

"You know it!" The young mage beamed. "Anyway, how've you been lately?" She began to follow the older woman around the kitchen as she prepared her breakfast.

"Oh, it's been this and that… the usual you know? The Queen has been craving some usual food combinations though." The woman paused, turning to Ancidia with a hint of humour in her eyes.

"Ah, must be the pregnancy." They said in unison.

Maria continued, flitting around her kitchen – stopping once every so often to taste some food. "Too salty." She told an apprentice before facing the mage again and handing her a warm plate. "Besides, you know my life's the same old, I'm almost in my fifties! I should be questioning you how things are going." She sighed, "Now, hurry along and eat… I'm sure your pet furball won't be happy if you stay for much longer."

"Hmm, you're right." Ancidia wrapped her arms around the jolly woman, careful not to drop her breakfast. "Thanks again! I'll see you tomorrow morning!" she called as she hurried out of the door she'd entered from. "Oh and tomorrow, make waffles – vanilla ice cream too!"

"Duly noted!" the chef called back.

.

The guild hall was quite large – despite the fact there couldn't ever be more than thirty people inside at once. For the moment, only one guild member occupied the room. He currently stood upside down on the rafters; his spiked, vibrant red hair seemingly more messy than usual due to his position off the ground. A purple hue tinted his orbs as they gazed calculatingly around the hall – observing. His pale skin tone contrasted the black piercings he had on either side of his nose, and running up along his ears. At 23 years of age, he stood at 6 foot even, muscles toning his tall body despite the fact it remained covered up. He wore a white hakama with a black sash, along with a white jacket with tails hanging from the back.

Glancing around the room once again, Nagato Otsutsuki found it was still empty. Perhaps the guild was sleeping in after the anniversary of the King and Queen's marriage the night before. Making no comment, he pulled out a small book and began to read. The book had somewhat reminded him of the conversation he'd had with the King last night.

' _The ballroom was filled with the smell of food and the sound of upbeat tunes – though not the kind of music he liked. Apparently celebrating a full year of being married together was a big thing, and everyone in Stone Cress currently occupied the building along with a few guests from neighbouring cities. In all honesty, Nagato wished to be anywhere… but there._

 _Only, being respectful to the King was of more importance. He figured after congratulating the royal, he could retreat back up to his room. And just to his luck, his royal Majesty spotted him within the crowd and called him over._

" _Everybody, please meet Nagato Otsutsuki, he's a trustworthy member of my army." The man – a little tipsy – introduced him to the small crowd gathered at his seat._

 _Some of the women leaned forward for a closer look. "Ooh, he's kind of scary don't you think?"_

" _Mhmm, but mysterious too. Say, are you part of the Southern Wing? Nobody has ever caught sight of them before, it's so mysterious, just like you."_

" _Ladies, please!" The King stopped them from speaking any further, "No one from the Southern Army is here tonight."_

 _Nagato blinked, nodding slightly to 'affirm' his Majesty's lie. Nobody of Gladiolus was ever to know the true identities of the South Wing after all._

" _Anyway, this man and I need to have a…" the King knocked back another glass of wine, "manly talk. So if you could excuse us."_

 _With a final congratulations, the people gathered around had cleared off and the wizard was left to face the – probably more than just tipsy – King._

" _You wanted to discuss something with me… Sir?"_

 _Grumbling, the King turned to him, "Ah yes, I wanted to talk to one of you before I forgot. You were currently the closest guild member so I figured you could pass on the message."_

" _Yes Sir." He spoke back politely._

" _You see… – Hey, Nagato._

"… _Yes?"_

HELLO? NAGATO? _'_

The man snapped back to the present and shifted the book he held to peer around it.

"Nagato." Charlie stood there, her arms crossed over her chest. She spoke again, "Nagato, if you keep hanging upside down from the rafters like that you're going to pass out from excessive blood rushing toward your brain and then you fall down and hit your head. Plus, from that angle you're more than likely to suffer a concussion – or worse, you could snap your neck and die."

The man merely exhaled softy before flipping off his hanging-place and landing perfectly safe on the ground. He silently looked over at Charlie, giving her a cold glare.

"I know, I know. 'It's never happened to you before'." She mocked his silent words and sighed. "I'm only looking out for you. Give or take another two hours and you'd have fainted most definitely."

The red-head raised an eyebrow, but this time, his guild mate decided to ignore him.

Wooden doors creaked open as Ancidia entered, a frown of concentration painted on her features as she licked melted ice cream from her fingers. Barely looking up, she greeted the two of them whilst making her way to sit down at the large table in the centre of the hall, Geiko trotting behind her. "Hey Charlie, hey Nagato. You two were already up?" She began to happily dig into her pancakes.

"Since five-thirty this morning like usual." Charlie smiled.

"You only slept for a little under four hours?" Ancidia stopped chewing, "That's not very healthy – and you should know that since you worry about our health all the time."

Doors swung open yet again, "Actually, Charlie worries about everyone and mostly everything, not just our health." Reese swiftly walked in, hands in his pockets. He glanced at Ancidia's plate of sticky maple syrup and melted ice cream before shuddering, "Eugh… gross."

The girl rolled her eyes, "I know you hate sweets already, but it didn't mean you had to openly express it. Next time you do that I'll shove a slice of cake down your throat."

"Do that, and I'll die… I'm practically allergic to glucose." The teen snorted.

The doe-eyed girls stopped. "Are you serious? I-I didn't know, sorry. I won't say stuff like that again." Her overly emotional side began to appear as she looked away and her eyes began to water.

Charlie almost tripped over herself in her haste to rush and comfort the dark blue haired girl, "It's okay, Reese is just lying – you know, being all mischievous and convincing again."

Reese laughed loudly, "I can never get past Charlie and her analytic skills, can I?"

"I'm not analysing you." She trailed off almost immediately, looking toward the roof where the guild members' dorms were built above. "Oh? What would he be doing up there?"

"Hmmm? Who?" Ancidia spoke up, recovering from her near-breakdown.

Charlie shook her head, looking a little confused, "The North Constable. What could he be wanting?"

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Charlie Kryse – TheLonelyAnon**

 **Reese Meadows – ShadedLyht**

 **Ancidia Rokuro** – **Taliaem**

 **Nagato Otsutsuki – SuperVegetaSSJ2**

I hope you've enjoyed the first of the introduction chapters. My fingers are absolutely freezing because it's currently like 3 degrees Celsius, but I'm pretty happy with this chapter. Some feedback on how I've depicted your OC (if they've appeared so far) would be great, and not to mention super helpful. :)

-Crisis

 **REVIEW CORNER**

 _ **Blue Blast;**_ Ehehe, I'm probably just as excited as you XD I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for submitting an OC, hopefully I characterize her well when she's introduced! :)

 _ **SuperVegetaSSJ2;**_ I hope this chapter was to your liking. Was my characterization of Nagato ok? Or totally off?

 _ **Tedri;**_ Ah, thanks for the review! I hope you liked the prologue and this chapter after reading it! I'm sorry your OC hasn't made an appearance yet, but he will in the next! I've got this mapped out in my mind… speaking of which, I should probably write it down somewhere. xD


	3. Introduction II

**I hope I haven't failed anyone's expectations with this chapter, if your OC has appeared, please review with some feedback if you think I could put more work into your character because I've depicted them wrong.**

 **Thank you for all OC submissions, I am still accepting only about 2 more. But there are still Raider (Leader) positions to be filled.**

 **I don't own Fairy Tail or anything like that, this story is entertainment for you all.**

 **With that said, enjoy ~**

* * *

 _Charlie shook her head, looking a little confused, "The North Constable. What could he be wanting?"_

No one spoke for a few moments, letting the information sink in. The man of the North was practically the highest in command in comparison to the East and West Admirals. He was quite a fearful man with an intimidating aura, deemed practically a monster himself. Some people of the public despised him, claiming that he was probably a wizard of some sort to even be that strong. Others looked up to his status, hoping to be as skilled as he was with weaponry one day.

"Which floor of the dorms is he on?" Reese cocked his head to the side, a smirk playing on his lips. But it soon dropped as Charlie visibly gulped.

"Never mind that, he's already outside the door." The girl shuddered, "Someone else is with him too, but Gerald's presence is much stronger that I can't pinpoint who the other person is."

Ancidia's gaze whipped toward the guild doors that were slowly creaking open. A looming figure began to appear as the North Constable revealed himself, carrying someone by the collar of their shirt as they swung limply.

The boy himself was quite short and skinny, stuck in what seemed to be the average 12 year-old's body. His off-white – with a slight lilac tinted hair was extremely messy, his bangs swept to the right. Having just been literally pulled from his bed, he was currently in his sleepwear, which consisted of brown sweat pants and a black t-shirt that had 'I'm still sleepy' printed on it. Around his neck was a thin, yet sturdy chain, along with a strip of cloth that was wrapped around his right ankle. Fair skin made him appear quite ghost-like, and bright, cardinal red eyes stared back at the four who were already in the guild, guiltily. He hugged his stuffed bear – Sin – even tighter if possible.

"Teddy!" Charlie called out as Nagato stood up from his seat, a hard look on his face that promised pain if Teddy was injured.

The boy merely laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Oops, I was caught!"

However, the Constable didn't seem quite so amused, "I cannot believe how low your standards have become." He growled. "Recruiting a twelve year old to do the dirty work? Putting his life at risk at such a young age? Exposing him to the horrors of the world before he's yet to mature?" At each question, his voice rose and he had begun the yell. Intimidating or not, the North Constable was actually a soft worry wart at heart – which was what made him such a powerful leader. "I come all the way from the North Wing to the South to visit your new recruit and I find _this_ young boy sleeping in a bed?"

"He has nowhere else to go." Reese shrugged, "Plus he knows magic. Why shouldn't we recruit him? He's pretty strong according to King Decim."

"But he's twelve! I thought you had strict policies to only recruit at sixteen?"

"Actually," Teddy finally spoke up. He wriggled in the Constables grasp until he was finally freed and landed on his two feet. "I'm well over twelve."

"He's three hundred and two." Charlie nodded.

Reese and Ancidia turned to Teddy with unconcealed surprise. "You're _that_ old?"

Nagato was a bit more conserved in his actions and opted to just wait for an explanation to quietly listen to.

Teddy pouted, "Ah, Charlie… you ruined the game! That was supposed to be a secret! A _secret_!" he placed a finger over his lips childishly in a hush-hush gesture. "Oh, and don't analyse me."

The ginger haired girl frowned, "For the nth time, I'm not analysing you! And I can't help it if I do!"

From the guild's entrance, the Constable cleared his throat loudly. "You're three hundred years of age." He stated.

"Yup." The boy nodded his head wildly, "I've been stuck in ice for ages and the guild found me two days ago! If you want a fight, I'm up for it! It's been forever since I've actually fought against someone strong… or anyone for that matter!"

"If you're going to spar, please don't do it in the guild hall." Ancidia commented, stroking Geiko's fur. "There's training rooms for such things. And you – Gerald, of all people should know this." She glanced pointedly at the Constable.

Her statement was left unheard as Teddy and Gerald began to circle each other, invisible sparks flying as smiles grew on both their faces, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "What magic do you possess?" the burlier man interrogated.

"Well that's for you to find out when it hits you." Teddy taunted back.

The sound of metal being unsheathed resounded throughout the guild hall as Gerald whipped out his sword – swinging it in the boy's direction. Steel clashed against steel as Teddy effortlessly defended himself, a scythe now in place of the toy bear he'd been holding. The blade of the weapon shone a gradient of silver and red in the natural light of the room. The handle was black, and the head of Sin was at the end with two chains hanging out of it.

Pushing the sword back a little, he quickly ducked under his arms and attempted to trip Gerald over. But the man simply dodged. "A re-quip mage, are you?" he chuckled, "Well then, that means your only advantage is having more weapon's to supply!" Grabbing his sword with both hands, he jammed the hilt of the weapon backwards, toward Teddy's face.

The boy chuckled, "Re-quip? You're nowhere close!" He went on the defence, narrowly missing the Constable's speed attacks as if he were teasing the man.

"Gerald!" A voice boomed, causing the six who were in the guild to freeze. "This is not what I perceive as setting a very good example."

Everyone hastily stood up and formed a line to bow. "King Decim." They mumbled in greeting.

"I'm very sorry Sir." Gerald added, knowing full well that the King was sending him a cold look. He immediately felt bad for his actions, supposing he was being a bit too brash. Although the new recruit had suggested they fight first – he wasn't about to blame the one who still looked like an innocent kid.

A sigh could be heard as the gaze softened, "You're forgiven. Head back to your station immediately."

Nodding, the North Constable straightened and excused himself, heading out of the door with hurried footsteps, head hanging low from being scolded. As soon as the door shut behind him, the King turned back to the 5 mages. "Nagato, have you discussed certain matters with the rest of the guild yet?"

The said man pursed his lips, "I believe it would be better to wait until everyone was here."

"I see. Well it has yet to be scheduled; but I believe the event shall occur either within the fortnight or the month." With a final nod, the man swept up his robes and gracefully left the room, a guard who had been waiting outside the door trailing after him.

A unanimous sigh of relief sounded out through the hall as Ancidia and Reese slumped back into a chair. "I swear I could see my life flash before my eyes, had he left any later." Reese murmured, a little dazed.

"Have we possibly come at a bad time?" An eerily calm voice declared. Sharp, angular red eyes practically glared into the space of the room. The girl was aged 22 and approximately 5'8 tall, her pure white hair falling straight to the length of her thighs. Her fringe was kept long, and was parted toward the right side of her face – a few stray strands falling across her features. She had fair skin, her hair not helping much to make her look any tanner. At current, she was casually dressed in a red tank top, beige pants and combat boots that covered her crescent moon tattoo. She also wore a black cloak with golden trimming. Although unseen, she wore a pair of crystal earrings, and her black guild mark was located at the nape of her neck. In her hands was a thick book – one of many she'd taken from the castle's library, and perched upon her shoulder was Dusk, a Harpy Eagle she'd found in the forest.

Beside her, stood another girl whose appearance was of almost the opposite. Dark mocha skin matched her dark, chocolate brown hair – tied into a thick braid which cascaded down to her waist. She was a bit taller than average with a frail build and had innocent doe eyes of a cloudy-grey hue. Dressed in loose, dark green robes, her waist was very much accentuated by the thick piece of rope tied around it. As she was barefoot, her forest green guild mark could be seen on the outside of her left ankle with every step she took. And only a year younger than her friend, she sported a spiralling tribal tattoo running from her right collarbone to her elbow. The most notable thing about the lady, however, was the gnarled wooden staff she gripped onto. At the very top held a frost blue lacrima, and curled around the stick was a deadly looking snake – whose name was Pyocious.

"Mara," the brunette spoke softly. Her eyes shifted around the room, unsure of where the girl was, "it seems that they've only had a fright."

Charlie was quick to agree, "Yes, just a small dispute with the King. Saria's as intuitive as usual."

Mara simply sighed, "Of course, I wouldn't put it past some of you to anger His Majesty. He is easy to please, but just as easily disappointed."

"The room. It's changed?" Saria voiced in a strained tone.

"Oh, only the corner; the couch, shelf and coffee table have been moved around." Anicidia cheerfully stated, letting Geiko go to mingle with Pyocious – the latter acted more like a cat than a snake after all.

Unseeing eyes blinked as Saria clutched onto her staff a little tighter. "Understood." She hummed, swiftly entering the guild and seating herself on the window sill. In turn, Mara joined her nearby, she opened the book she held, delving into a different dimension of fantasy and ignoring Dusk's attempts to cuddle up to her.

"I'm sorry, is it my fault I wanted the room to be a bit different yesterday?" Teddy spoke tearfully. Being the latest recruit of the guild, he had yet to actually meet everyone and therefore didn't know how things were supposed to operate in the mess hall.

Charlie smiled and gave the boy a bat on the head. "Don't worry, Saria's actually got a happy aura around her right now."

A gentle voice began to make its way around the room, a soulful melody of which ears had to be strained to listen in. It was quiet enough to be calming, rather than distracting. Despite some of their differences, Saria and Mara had quickly become close friends due to mutual understanding. Both loved animals, and possessed reserved characteristics after all. If it were anyone else, Mara would've politely asked them to zip it; finding their singing distracting. Saria was the only exception.

The girl had a tiniest of smiles on her face as she sang, feeling as though it would be a good day. However, her song was interrupted by the grumbling of her own stomach, vaguely recalling that she hadn't eaten since the start of the party last night. Saria had skipped out on attending that night, opting to hold up in her room where nobody would accidently step on Pyocious, or scream at the fact she owned a snake.

Blushing lightly, she slipped from the window sill and immediately heard Mara close her book and stand up after her. "You must eat more, Saria. No wonder you're the size of a stick." She bluntly toned. Though anyone could tell she was mostly teasing.

With a single nod, the two girls began to exit the room, Saria only stopping to call Pyocious back. "Kasa." She cooed in a foreign tongue. The reptile straightened in alert before slithering its way back to its owner.

Ancidia sighed as they left, stretching out her arms before leaning down to scratch Geiko between its ears. "Ah, it's much too early in the morning to be at the guild. It's boring, really."

"Actually, almost everyone is awake. No one has come to the guild yet, that's all." Charlie grinned.

Reese's eyebrows rose, eyes shining with a layer of mischief. "Hmmm, so Charlie is secretly a stalker after all?"

Teddy stepped away from the girl with a horrified expression, "You are?!"

Nagato could only discreetly roll his eyes at his guild mate's antics as an argument broke out between them.

.

Meanwhile, the room was filled with tension as a man slowly flipped over his cards, revealing an Ace and the King of Spades. "Full house."

The tense atmosphere dissipated as a cheer rung throughout the bar and the players at the table reluctantly handed the man the poker chips he'd won, depressed expressions on their faces as they thought about their empty wallets. Women sidled up to the man as he smiled politely.

"What can I do for you today, my ladies?" Balthazar Faust sat on a stool, his back kept straight as he crossed one leg over the other in a lazy, yet inviting matter. His short white hair was slicked back, and his albino skin tone was practically the same colour of his locks. With a tall stature and athletic build, his piercing red eyes could only add to his appeal. He was almost a male version of Mara, had it not been for their personality clash and no relation to each other whatsoever. Not only that, but he dressed smart as well; decked out in a Victorian styled black suit and white gloves. A golden pocket watch could be seen dangling from his belt loop. If he were shirtless, anyone would be able to see his ouroboros tattoo on his back and red guild mark on his left shoulder. And though he claimed to be 25 years of age, people would never stop to think he could ever be a whole century older than he appeared.

The women in the bar practically swooned at his feet, wanting to get a piece of the man who never seemed to lose at the good old Poker. Balthazar merely bathed in the attention, secretly slipping spare cards further up his sleeve when everyone was distracted. One of the bolder women moved forward to send him a flirtatious smile. "What can you do for me today? Well for starters, you can take me home." She winked.

"Let's not be hasty shall we? It's still in the early hours of the morning." Balthazar commented, downing the rest of his drink. "Would anyone like to go up against me for a second time?"

A few people took up the challenge, "Why not? There's only so many times one can strike lucky." Three people moved to take a seat, gesturing for the cards to be dealt.

"Winner bets first." The dealer murmured, flipping the first card over.

Balthazar eyed the card, before discreetly lifting the corner of his own so that only he could see them. Tapping his chin, his other hand slowly reached forward to push a small stack of poker chips forward. "Three thousand."

The man beside him slid the same amount forward, as did the woman beside him. "Call."

"Raise by two." Confidently, the fourth player spoke. He looked at the gentleman haughtily.

His lips quirked upward, slightly as he picked up 2 more chips to match the former's bet. "Call." He said slyly. Grudgingly, the other two matched the current bet of 5000 jewel as well, unwilling to be out of the game so early.

The next card was flipped, and player two eventually folded at a raise of another 1500 jewel.

They kept playing until the final card was revealed, the woman groaning and admitting defeat, as she too, folded and was out of the game, she was obviously bluffing – if not hoping for a miracle. At current, the 5 community cards were a six of Diamonds, ten of Clubs, eight of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts and Jack of Clubs. The fourth player rubbed his hands, "Raise by two thousand and five hundred jewel." He placed the first bet.

The two men went back and forth, continuing to place bets as they finally matched each other at 13,000 jewel total. The dealer sighed in relief, "Player four, reveal your cards."

"A straight and the double Jacks." He flipped over his cards and leaned back in his seat, daring Balthazar to challenge him.

Shaking his head, he reached for his own cards. "My apologies, Sir. Royal Flush." In his hand were the King and Queen of Clubs, along with the nine of Clubs. He signalled the bar tender for another drink. "I must say, have you ever considered Botox?"

"Excuse me? I am a man, you know." The sore loser was quick to get riled up.

Balthazar ignored him. "Yes, but it's merely a suggestion. Maybe that way you'd have a better Poker Face. I heard it's hard to show expression when you undergo the surgery." He spoke kindly, as if telling a child he would buy them ice-cream rather than insulting the man's lack of skill in the game.

"Are you crazy?!" The man stood up, fury engulfing him. No one tried to hold him back, afraid of being injured. Leaping forward, he swung his fist wildly.

Balthazar leant backward, dodging the attack by a mile. His drink was held steadily in his hand as he sipped at the alcohol, practically walking circles around the man as he wasted his energy on futile attempts to attack. "Hmm, I see. You have bad balance, so you make up for it with your wild flurries of attacks and upper body strength. Problem is you also seem to have poor endurance and form a pattern in your techniques – leaving you open in many different places at a time." Reaching out, he flawlessly blocked the fist of the enraged man, using his other free hand to place on the guy's chest to stop him from moving.

But in such a rushed attack, a small breeze blew through the room as an after-effect, causing cards to spill out from the sleeve of Balthazar's suit. Everyone watched as useless cards slowly littered the floor, before glaring back at him again – now knowing the cause of his endless luck.

His face was clear of guilt or any shame as he stepped back from his opponent and took a bow. "Well then, I shall be taking my leave." Scooping up the poker chips from the table, he headed out the door and onto the street. Surprisingly, no one bothered to follow.

Looking up at the sky, he nodded to himself once and checked the time on his pocket watch just to be sure. "I suppose I should be heading back to the guild."

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Teddy Stein – Tedri**

 **Mara Velvino – ScarletClaw**

 **Saria Koreland Greenbringer – Blue Blast**

 **Balthazar Faust – ManhattanTheory**

-Crisis

 **REVIEW CORNER**

 _ **ScarletClaw;**_ Thank you for the review (^_^) I'm super glad you're enjoying it so far! I hope I've characterized Mara well, if you think she still needs some improvement, don't be afraid to tell me! I don't want to be depicting your character wrong after you put so much effort into her creation :)

 _ **Darth Huitzilopochtli;**_ That's really good! I'm glad Nagato has been depicted well! I hope this chapter was just as enjoyable and made you smile again. I guess I'm pretty similar – my door is closed, but I've got the heater running instead. Plus a few extra jackets… winter keeps getting colder.

 _ **Tedri;**_ It's finally come! Your OC has been introduced! I hope I did okay, and tell me what you think :)

 _ **ShadedLyht;**_ Hmm, you'll find out what the King discussed with Nagato in the near future! And thank you for the compliment! I understand what you mean as well… but what's the use of adding it to the application if it's not going to be put to use?

 _ **Candied Snowflakes;**_ Welcome to Jupiter's Reign! I'm glad you like it so far! And yes, it is sort of like an underground guild… in fact, I was planning to do that from the start, but after months of development before posting this, I decided to change it. Thanks for following! (*^_^*)


	4. Introduction III

**School's starting again for me soon, therefore chapters may take a little longer to update. I present you the 3** **rd** **introduction chapter. It's about 3am here and I struggled a bit with this one, so I hope the quality's still good.**

 **There is still ONE RAIDER POSITION SLOT LEFT. I'm going to let any of you have the chance to submit, but you'll have to PM me for the form. I think I'll wait until everyone's gotten back to me and then pick the most detailed/the OC I think will improve the story the most. So technically (1) OC submission is open, even if it doesn't say in the summary.**

 **I don't own Fairy Tail, just this story's plot. Enjoy ~**

* * *

"Fight!" a man stood to the side of a makeshift battle ring, and waved a red flag wildly in the air. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the two inside clashed together in a heap of muscle. Standing closest to the arena, a woman merely scoffed.

At the age of 23, she often found herself mistaken for a young child – standing at the sheer height of 5'2 with a thin figure. Silky, soft black hear was styled into a loose elegant knot that was held back by red clips, whilst stray strands had fallen to frame her face and amber eyes were emphasised through the use of thick, violet eyeshadow that curved downward like serpent fangs. Her pale white skin seemed clear of any blemishes besides the two seven-headed hydra that had been inked onto each forearm – their eyes also amber, and the only colour used besides black. These tattoos were only revealed due to her rolling up the sleeves of her rose-red sweater. She also wore a simple black skirt, thigh-high stockings, and black boots to match. On her wrist was a piece of string that was wrapped around thrice, along with a ruby gem threaded through it.

Troika – the woman in question – could honestly say that the fight before her was just a waste of time and energy. She would've left long ago, but her analytical nature begged her to stay and see the outcome.

The two grown men had no armour or weapons; just their bare fists, and seemed to be more brawl than brain. For Troika's point of view, the fight would have been over multiple times already if they'd actually thought about their actions and followed through with a plan. Of course, she would commend them for their brute strength, but against a mage, it would be an instant KO. Townspeople were nothing special to her; they would never be able to stand up against a fully-fledged wizard – let alone the weakest of them. If she were to give them a value, they'd probably only be worth 50 jewel or less.

"Ah, young child… you really shouldn't be here, watching these things." One of the spectators from beside her bent down to her height. He pat her lightly on the head, "Perhaps you're lost?"

Troika snorted, roughly shoving his hand away, "Not even close! I'll have you know I've seen enough bloodshed to last a lifetime. Senseless means of fighting are nothing new to me; they're wasting their talent, and you're wasting your time." She pointed to the two in the battle ring, then back to the man. Her gesture discreetly drew the man's eye toward her tattoos, something that would never be seen on a young child of good wealth.

He looked a little surprised at first, struggling to keep up with the turn of events. At first he'd thought he could earn some easy money – after all, the woman was dressed in much nicer clothing than he was. If she had really been a child who'd lost sight of her parents, he could simply take her back to them; most likely with reward included. But instead, he offered her a smile rubbed his hands together greedily, perhaps there was still a way to make a profit. "I see, my mistake! Would you like to make a bet then? Who do you think might win?" he asked.

Looking up, she smirked at his unmasked intentions. And since she was in no hurry to get anywhere, she figured teasing the fool a little wouldn't do any harm. "A bet? Could you explain that to me? I'm not very acquainted with this term."

"A bet is simply just placing however much money you want on whoever you think will win the fight. They say the more money you place, the luckier you are when it comes to these things." His eyes glinted the moment he lied.

"And if I were to… bet, who should I bet for?"

The man took a moment to study the two contenders. "I would say Krag – he's the one with the blue shirt. Can you see his form as he punches? It's almost perfect, whereas Ned's form is unsteady, and he's not as physically strong."

"Right." She nodded, inwardly laughing at his attempt to trick her. It was obvious that both competitors were practically equal in strength. "I'm not going to bet though."

"Eh?" he looked annoyed in contrast to his surprised tone, "Why not?"

Troika shrugged, "I've other things to spend my money on."

"Not even a hundred jewel or so? You look like you're very well off after all." He pressed, even going so far as to trail a hand down her arm.

She finally let her disgust show – the man just wouldn't give up! "First of all, I came passing by to buy some wine. Second; I would much rather be in the fight than watch it. Thirdly, you're not very good at lying or manipulation are you? Even the blind could tell that those two men are on an even ground. The fight already has an 82% chance of ending in a draw." Troika found she still had plenty of other things to say, but stopped before the man's brain could burst.

Sighing, she turned and walked off in the direction of the winery. It was what the town was mainly known for – and she'd heard a particular case of Shiraz cost just over 4,000 jewel; perfect for her current budget.

.

Following the entrance of the fellow 18 year old Wednesday Knight; an unbelievable amount of gloom seemed to spread throughout the hall. Laughter died down, as did the small argument that had broken out over whether sweets or spicy food was better. Flowers wilted at the new presence, and even the bright lights seemed to dim, shying away from the walking figure of depression.

The girl herself had taken on a deathly pale complexion – also donning the most lifeless black eyes as the most prominent feature on her face. Her hair was purple in colour that was styled into two thin braids of which were held together by skull-shaped clips. Wednesday's outfit only seemed to add to the predisposition that she might have been a ghost; her pitch black Lolita dress creating such contrast to her skin it almost seemed to be transparent. The dress itself had layers and layers of white frills beneath its skirt, making her frame seem even thinner than what could be considered healthy.

The silence in the room was almost too overwhelming as everyone tried to avoid each other's gazes uncomfortably. It seemed as though Wednesday was in no mood to be happy in the slightest – the depressing feeling taking a heavier toll on the guild than usual. Ancidia was even crying silently to herself, her emotions probably one of the most unstable within the guild.

Throats were cleared in attempt to keep calm, but even the most mentally strong failed to withdraw themselves from the sour mood.

Doors slammed open as Teddy walked in with an excited tone to his voice, "Guys, Chef Maria said... Oh." The boy stopped as soon as he stepped foot inside the room, drooping in disappointment and hunching over. He sighed loudly and continued, "A-Anyway, Chef Maria said lunch was ready."

"Food sounds pretty good right now. Maybe we should have it served in the garden?" Charlie tried to sound upbeat and bring up the mood. The guild members all seemed to agree as one by one, they began to file out of the mess hall and head toward the palace garden. Upon leaving the room, the chatter slowly grew louder the further away from Wednesday they got.

Charlie stayed behind as soon as she noticed Wednesday following. "L-Look, I was thinking maybe… it'd be best for you to eat in your own room?"

"Hn. You don't have to sugar coat your words. If you don't want me around, who cares? I don't particularly like any of you around either…" Wednesday scowled, "Besides, I ain't that hungry."

The older woman struggled to smile, "I see. Would you rather sleep? You look like you need some." She mentally scanned her guild mate's profile, the data she'd expected to see transferring to her brain. She huffed and cut Wednesday off as the latter opened their mouth to speak. "I know what you're about to say – 'that sleep is a nuisance' – or something else along the lines of that. But you really need some rest! I don't care how much you might hate the world, but the world needs you."

The depressed teen looked as though she were about to protest, but Charlie's red magic seal had already appeared before she could. "Anatomy: REMS Restoration." She gently placed a hand against Wednesday's forehead, watching closely as the girl's eyes drifted shut before catching the frail girl as she fell asleep in her arms.

.

25 year old Tristan Marx walked up to a young man, giving the boy a smile of encouragement as he tossed a few jewel into the hat that sat on the ground. The teen looked up from his guitar, ready to thank whomever had given him such a generous tip.

His gaze trailed up, taking in the black and white runners, the tan cargo shorts; held up by a black belt with a blue sash tied to one of the belt loops, and the white button which had its sleeves rolled up along with a black undershirt. On one forearm, he had a detailed tribal tattoo of a bear, and on the other, a wolf. Around his neck was a silver chain with a bear charm hanging down to his chest and on his right ear was a piercing of a cross. He had long, straight black hair that was tied into a loose ponytail, almond-shaped hazel eyes, and a lightly tanned complexion. Overall, he was just over 6ft tall and had a toned, athletic build. But upon a closer look, the young boy could see half of a silver coloured, King's chess piece at the left side of Tristan's neck – the other half covered by his collar.

"T-Thank you." He spoke in awe – never before had he met someone who worked for the King. Rumour had it that anyone with the King's chess piece was extremely close with the royal. But very few people had ever met someone with such a mark, so it was only obvious it remained a rumour.

Tristan smiled again, "No problem kiddo, you deserved it. Talent like that shouldn't go to waste." He nodded toward the guitar, "How many years have you been playing for?"

"O-Only three." The boy managed to reply. He gulped, gathering a little bit of courage. "Say, i-is it true?"

"What's true?"

He lowered his voice into a whisper, and Tristan leaned in closer to hear better, "That people with the chess piece mark are, like, _really_ close with King Decim." He then pulled back, his eyes wide with anticipation.

Tristan let out a baritone laugh, "Well it's something along the lines of that." He spoke vaguely, sitting down beside the younger man.

"Then I want to be like you one day!" The boy spoke, absolutely determined. "I'll be the King's best musician and wear that mark proudly on my hand! That way everyone can see it when I play the guitar." He turned to Tristan, "How did you do it? How do you get recruited into the castle? If possible, can you take me there today? What kind of job do you do? Are you also a musician? You sure look like one!"

"Whoa, slow down and take a few breaths." The mage chuckled, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You've still got a few years ahead of you, are you sure you want to work for the King?" He raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"I've never been so sure of anything in my life!" He stood up, gripping tightly onto his instrument. "Isn't it exciting? I'd get to play music for all his parties, wear nice clothes, and earn a lot of money to help my parents out!"

Tristan stopped at that, struggling for the right words. The kid obviously had high hopes for the future, but he had no idea how to let him down gently. At least, not without hurting his feelings or breaking the code of the guild. He tilted his head to the side in thought. "Well," he began, slowly, "as a word of advice, you can't apply to work for the King until you're 16. You have to be open minded to everything to pass the test; there's a lot of things about the palace outsiders don't know –"

"Tristan?" A feminine voice introduced itself into the conversation.

Both males looked over to see a girl standing at 5'6 with a slightly muscular build. Her hair was black with red highlights that had been tied up into a high ponytail along with brown, almond shaped eyes and a faded scar on her left cheek. She had tanned skin and a black rose tattoo on the inside of her left wrist. Around her neck was a black ribbon choker with a red crystal heart hanging from the centre. Her clothes consisted of the same colours; a black skirt ending at her mid-thigh and a simple red tank top. A black hoodie was left unzipped and ended at her waist, along with black ankle boots to complete the look. In her arms were two boxes; one big and one small, whilst her arms carried the weight of multiple bags.

"Raven! Do you need some help with that?" Tristan greeted in return, he stood up and took the boxes from her anyway. "What're you doing out here? You don't usually come out alone."

Her eyes flickered toward the young boy with the guitar before she tilted her head to the ground shyly. "I ran out of art supplies." The 19 year old mumbled quietly, "It was only supposed to take a minute, but before I knew it, it was already noon."

"Do you work for the King too? Are you the Royal Artist? Did you create the painting that hangs in the Cathedral?" He jumped around her, still holding his precious instrument as to not let it fall.

Raven looked confused at first, glancing over at Tristan – who immediately shrugged. "I didn't make that painting…" She denied truthfully, shifting uncomfortably as the boy's face fell. "I'm sorry, I think I should be heading back now, before the others get worried. I promised I'd be there for lunch." She bowed politely before turning in attempt to leave. Instead, she found herself gazing at the large crowd that had seemed to gather in the past few minutes. Her body tensed at the thought of having to fight her way through so many people. Raven twisted back and almost looked at her guild mate pleadingly.

Seeing this, Tristan faced the young boy with an apologetic expression. "Sorry boy, it looks like I should get going as well." He then grinned and pat him on the back, "But don't give up on the guitar, yeah? I'm sure you'll reach your dream someday."

The boy beamed back. "O-Okay! Don't forget me! My name's Eric Coven." He called out to the two, watching their figures retreat and disappear into the crowd. The lazy gesture of Tristan simply lifting his hand let the teen know he'd heard. Feeling a rush of excitement once again, he hurried home to tell his mother the great news.

.

Back with the two wizards, the older began to lead Raven though the throng of people, politely pushing people out of the way to get to their destination faster. Once out of the growing crowd, Raven looked up gratefully. "Thanks Tristan… and for helping me with the boxes too." She smiled, relaxing a little more in the presence of someone she already knew – she'd never been good at dealing with strangers. The two settled into a fast pace to make their way back to Stone Cress from Allium City. As neighbouring towns, it was only a ten minute stroll from one to the other.

"No problem, I'm always happy to help." He replied cheerfully.

She gave a nod, "If I hadn't forgotten to stock up on my supplies when I came back from the mission, I would never have come out alone."

"Well isn't it a good thing you bumped into me then!" Tristan joked in return.

The two filled their walk with mindless chatter, finding themselves back at the castle faster than they'd anticipated. Once the door opened, the usual maids and butlers greeted them, offering to take Raven's supplies back up to her room. The grumble in her stomach was enough to make her agree. From there, they were lead to the garden, where the sound of conversation grew louder.

"Hey everyone." The two greeted, taking an unoccupied chair and filling in the seats. The guild jumped forward to grab some extra plates, filling them with delicious delicacies before passing them down, encouraging them to eat before all the food was gone.

"… and so the old man ended up stuck in a tree. I've still got no idea why he allowed himself to be thrown up there in the first place!" Ancidia laughed, wiping a tear from her eye as she reminisced the days with her Master. Everyone else gave a collective laugh, agreeing that her story was probably the most comedic of those who'd shared theirs.

"Being drunk does make you do questionable things." Mara commented. The corner of her lips quirked in an amused fashion. Saria next to her was laughing quietly behind her hand.

Teddy chuckled, "If only I'd been there to see that!"

Reese nudged him with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Or we could throw you up there ourselves, they say 'you had to be there' all the time… why not make it happen for real instead?" A sound of agreement was made as a few of them migrated to the large tree that sat a few metres away. Without giving Teddy the chance to decide whether or not he was really up for the challenge, he'd already been hauled up into the air; the few who were standing around chanting his name.

"Just try not to be too reckless about this." Charlie fret, knocking her chair over in a hurry to ensure maximum safety for their wild decision.

Nagato looked over toward Raven and Tristan, whom were still eating, but facing the scene with amusement. "That reminds me," He spoke, "I've told everyone else, but the King will be holding another Vitality Check in a few weeks. It's important to stay as healthy as you can." With that, he too stood up to join the group at the base of the tree.

"Ready? Three, two, ONE!"

"GAH!"

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Troika (Aria Hex) - Rozen Krone**

 **Wednesday Knight - velvet queen**

 **Tristan Marx - Grimlock Ebonheart**

 **Raven Moon - ShadowPhoenix34**

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 **REVIEW CORNER**

 _ **ShadowPhoenix34;**_ I can totally see the resemblance of Aang and Teddy – I actually didn't notice that before! I hope I've done Raven justice, and I know her appearance was a little short, but we'll definitely see more of her in future chapter and the readers will get to know her better!

 _ **Benthino;**_ Hmm, Balthazar is definitely good at playing his 'cards', but I can tell you now, that's not actually his magic ;) And yes, the Avatar has graced this story with his presence! He's totally going to save the world from the Fire Nation… or in this case, the Raiders.

 _ **Sakura-Fiction;**_ Yes, I was heading down the road of a slightly medieval twist in the story; Kings, Queens, wars… all that nutter. I'm glad I've been able to provide you some temporary entertainment, and I hope this chapter is just as enjoyable!

 _ **Darth Huitzilopochtli;**_ Balthazar was an enjoyable character for me to write xD I was fun, and I agree with you there… Nagato probably wouldn't be happy heheh. I hope this chapter was just as exciting; and guess what, Black Bear updates soon too! Hope you're looking forward to it.

 _ **ScarletClaw;**_ Great! I'm glad I've done your character justice.~ And I was reading through Mara and Saria's profiles when it kinda clicked for me that they'd be really good friends :) Balthazar was a fun character to write for me, isn't he quite the hedonist? xD

 _ **ManhattanTheory;**_ Oh, thank you! I really appreciate the compliment, as I was characterizing him, I was secretly hoping I hadn't pushed it too far, or made him too underwhelming. Don't worry, you're all amazing at writing too! I've read your stories, and they're great! I haven't kept up lately because I've been a bit busy; but I'll catch up soon.

 _ **Candied Snowflakes;**_ Plenty of variety in the characters! That's why I'm not cutting corners and introducing them in order of submission! Hehe I hope this chapter was still enjoyable, and they'll be plenty of action in the following arc after the introductions. A truck load of feels have a high percentage of appearing in the story in the future as well. I hope they'll be enough for some tissues, I'd feel as though I'll have failed if there wasn't enough for some hearty crying… *ahem* excuse me… I was re-watching Angel Beats recently. xD

 _ **PoisonBanana;**_ Ah yes, it has been a year since Black Bear was posted… I really should have thought about that and made a bonus chapter for you all. Maybe next year if there's still an audience. I hope I haven't failed your expectations this time around. *bows* sorry :/

 _ **Tedri;**_ Teddy appeared! You'll definitely see more action from him in the future. :)

 _ **Blue Blast;**_ Nah-uh, I ain't letting Saria be a loner in this story, she'd be such a sweet girl if she were actually real! Awesome to know I characterized her well for her intro. I was a bit worried about that. And I'm glad that line suited her well. I was actually aiming more for emphasising the type of person Mara was… but I guess that's a win-win situation there!

 _ **ShadedLyht;**_ Thank you! I try to place everyone in a setting which suits them best… but I feel as though I might be running out of ideas… heheh *time to do more planning*

 _ **Wanderstar;**_ I'm happy all the OC's I've received are unique as well! We can't just have a plain old guild with all the same people! :D It took me ages to plan – and be content – with the story idea too, so I'm glad settles well with you. When the time comes, I hope I characterize your OC, well.

 _ **Grimlock Ebonheart;**_ I hope this chapter was enjoyable, and that I've depicted your character well. I had a little trouble with the chapter overall, not sure why… maybe I'm creatively tired. *Not sure if that's a thing, but probably not.*

 _ **Si vera sunt;**_ Although I've already said this, thank you for your reviews :) I believe they'll help me a lot in the future. And feel free to rip this into tiny pieces for every awkward, cheesy, stupid mistake – I know I've had trouble with this one.

 **Phew! I've never had so many reviews before, thank you all so much! ^_^**  
 **But even though the story's just begun, I might not do my review corners anymore unless I have the time, or you really want me to respond to y'all. But yeah…**

 **-Crisis**


	5. Introduction IV

**First of all, I'd like to apologize for such a delay on this update. I'm not sure if all of you saw the notice, but this story was on a temporary hiatus for the past 2 months.**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, therefore I only own this plot and the characters belong to you, my fellow readers.**

* * *

The sound of time ticking away seemed to echo throughout the room as a pocket watch lay abandoned on the oak dining table of the guildhall. The room was silent in the early wake of dawn, and was currently in an unkempt manner. Of course, the food and plates had been cleared away, but there were still bits and pieces of who-knows-what lying around from the celebratory dinner they'd held. There'd been no particular reason as to why they'd decided to celebrate, but they figured it was best to salvage their moment of tranquillity the night before. It wasn't for another hour or so until the first member arrived to start off his day; a plate in hand with the breakfast he'd made himself as to not disturb Chef Maria.

At the age of 37, Ryuga Haruya had friendly orbs the colour of the ocean and pitch black hair with a single steak of white across the right side of his bangs. His hair was shorter at the back, and his fringe was quite long, gelled to the side a little be able to see well. His pale skin contrasted the tight navy-blue t-shirt he wore – stretching across his muscular build. Over the shirt was a red vest with a hood; the zip currently left undone. Standing at 6'6, his long legs were covered by dark blue pants. On his right hand was Jupiter's guild mark in black, and a thicker coat hung over his forearm. After setting down his plate, he swiftly moved across to pick up the pocket watch and secure it onto the belt loop of his jeans.

In the midst of enjoying his breakfast, a few others had entered as well; all of them bearing a plate or bowl of food. "… Well yes, whilst I do believe that snakes are quite regal creatures; elegant in their movements, my opinion resides in the fact that birds are more majestic. They have grace, freedom, and are far less vicious toward their prey." Mara confided.

Saria hummed softly from beside her, "I suppose you're right. I still like snakes more – right Pyocious?" Her snake hissed in response to her question, curling its way further up her staff. The girl blinked as she noticed another presence in the room, "Ah, Ryuga. Good morning."

The man looked up from his meal with a brief gulp to swallow his food. "Good morning to you too, Saria… Mara." He spoke in a cheery tone, "Come seat and sit!"

"It's _sit_ and _eat_ Ryuga. Sit and eat." Troika corrected as she plopped down beside him with a meal similar to that of the King's breakfast. The woman dug in almost immediately, eating with impeccable speed and grace.

"My bad," Ryuga simply laughed it off with a wave of his hand, "it was just a slip of the tongue!"

Troika raised her eyebrows. "Quite so. Though I believe it's more of a 'ditz' thing coming from you." She bluntly toned, causing the only male in the room to abruptly end his stream of chuckles; though he still had a friendly grin stretched across his features.

They fell into silence, quietly nibbling away at their meals. Saria quietly ate one portion of her pancakes with fresh berries, before giving the rest to Pyocious and wiping her mouth on a napkin daintily. Beside her, Mara absentmindedly dug at her fruit salad with a spoon. She was so absorbed in the book placed before her that, for the past few minutes, she'd been shovelling nothing but a spoonful of air into her mouth; her meal slipping off the utensil and back into the bowl. Shaking her head, Saria carefully switched the spoon in Mara's hand for her fork. A small smile graced her features after Pyocious hissed quietly, telling her that all was well.

"So Saria." Troika rested her chin in the palm of her hand, her elbow propping it up upon the tabletop. "If you're blind… how are you able to judge where to put the food in your mouth? In fact I've always wondered, but have you ever poked yourself in the eye? My, that would be a laugh!"

Pyocious practically spat venom at the question, but Saria merely shrugged. "Erm I guess I just learnt overtime, and yes, I have misjudged once or twice before… why the sudden question?" The girl had a hint of curiosity in her quiet voice. Usually she'd be quite upset if someone asked so bluntly, but Troika had always been that way, so she figured the question wasn't intended to insult her. That, and it hadn't been the first time the mage had asked about her condition.

"I was merely inquiring. It could be a useful skill in the future for when I'm half asleep yet hungry." The woman offered shrug, though the latter couldn't see. She mentally added some new information of Saria's reaction to ease her apprehensive mind.

"My, that really would be quite helpful!" Ryuga cut in with a grin. His outburst was louder than expected and caused the girls to flinch. An oblivious jolly laugh filled the room as the man finished the last of his meal, the doors opening simultaneously with a creak. The chuckles died down to greet the newcomers, and Troika couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Finally," she grumbled, "your laughter was giving me a headache. And it certainly isn't appreciated in the early hours of the morning." She began rubbing at her temples, a frown gracing her features as she looked up to see who'd entered.

The male; Niles Holland was quite a passionate pianist. His usually calm, laid-back demeanour was shown through his own appearance; donning a simple white tunic, brown pants and leather shoes. Placed on his left hip were two brown leather sheathes, containing identical knives. His eyes, neither big nor small, were pale pink in colour and matched the tips of his long hair – which flowed from a very light shade of blue to a dark pink. His build was quite slender due to his height of 6'1, and his complexion was slightly pale in comparison to those who spent more time out in the sunlight. His facial features were well defined, the only thing marring it was a faded scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. The 23 year old's guild mark was a of a light blue, kept hidden by his shirt due to its placement on the top centre of his back.

And standing at a tad shorter than 5'5, Lucretzia Zemerik had pure white hair, straight and skimming over her shoulders with every movement she made. Her lavender, western-shaped eyes stood out against her pale skin and her build was slightly muscular. She wore a simple attire consisting of a white shirt, with the words 'Lu-Lu' printed on it in a light blue. She had grey shorts on along with a small keychain connected to the belt loop, and white sneakers with blue detailing. Atop her head were a pair of black sunglasses. Around her neck was a golden necklace with three arrow charms on it; one pointing to the left, and the other toward the right. The last one pointed downward toward her chest, where, if you looked closely could see the top of the purple guild mark she had.

Courteous as Niles was, Lucretzia had entered the room first before he followed behind her, letting the door swing shut with a soft thud. The two, whom were in quite a deep conversation, stopped talking when they noticed there were others in the room. "Isn't it such a lovely morning?" Lucretzia spoke first, greeting them with a small, polite bow. Niles opted to merely nod in his own greeting.

"Why yes it is!" Ryuga grinned, "Have you seen anyone else this morning? It's getting rather late, and quite a few of the early risers are yet to come to the guild."

"Yeah we saw Tristan, Charlie and Teddy earlier. They were heading to the kitchen to grab breakfast. Reese might be on his way down soon as well – I heard him fall off the bed as I left my room." Niles shrugged a little, only telling what he could recall. Slipping his plate of food onto the table, he was spared from a second glance at the sugar-filled dish as Lucretzia moved to sit beside him with a more… healthier start to the day, which Ryuga seemed to approve of with a nod.

"Has His Majesty called for a meeting with us today, or have we been told otherwise?" Lucretzia began to daintily munch on her meal, patting a napkin to her lips every so often to make sure her face was void of food.

Ryuga's eyes widened as he seemed to remember something, before pulling out a scroll from his vest. "Ah, yes… there was a notice nailed to the door when I walked in. He's called us to the throne room before dinner to talk about the prospects of job growth around the western and southern areas of Gladiolus; so we've all got time to relax for a while and do whatever you'd like to do. I'll be heading to the North Wing with Gerald to get some training in with the new recruits."

The woman's eyes brightened as she put on a pleading pout, "Oh, would you be so kind enough to let me come along? I've been meaning to spar against Constable Gerald for a while now."

"Hey, if you're going... then I'll be coming too. I'd like to see the newbies in action." Troika smirked, always one to watch the first ever training session of the new recruits. She also knew Balthazar had a good laugh when it came to the 'break-in' sessions as well – it was highly amusing for them after all. She looked over at Ryuga for a moment, "Do you know if any of them show signs of developing magic?"

"I guess that's something you'll have to ask Charlie. I suppose she'll be coming to do full-body analysation on them later." The man shrugged and gave the most reasonable reply he could offer.

A plate clattered onto the table beside him and a mop of bright orange sunk into the seat beside his. "What will I be doing?" Charlie questioned, her amber eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Will you be doing bodily scans on the new recruits on the North Wing today?" Lucretzia repeated in place of the elder man.

Charlie's posture seemed to straighten as she waved her hand about airily, "No need, Gerald came to me privately this morning. That's why I'm late to come to the guild today. There's one hundred and forty-seven recruits total – I believe at least ten of them won't be able to make it through today's session as they have all sorts of different problems with their health. None of them are ever going to wield magic either unless a lacrima is planted. But they're a rare find, so in the end; it's near impossible for any of them to end up with us, in here."

Tristan smiled from across the room, where his breakfast had vanished in a matter of seconds, and he rubbed his stomach contentedly. "Well, there's only one of us here that joined us from the army anyway."

"Oh yes, it was quite a bizarre moment if I recall. Dressing up as a man just to serve and protect her country." Lucretzia laughed lightly, "Even Gerald was horrified when he realised. Speaking of which, will she be back soon? She suddenly disappeared after taking orders from the king and hasn't been back for almost three weeks." She glanced at Tristan, hoping he knew something about his teammate.

But the man simply shook his head, "I haven't heard from her for a while now, but she'll be fine – I know what type of mission she's been sent off on; I believe it required for her to cut contact with all of us during the length of her mission." He frowned slightly at that, but it was barely noticeable.

"I'll check the post office for you tomorrow morning... you know, just in case." Charlie offered, knowing she'd be up before everyone else as per usual. Tristan nodded gratefully at that, and the conversation continued in livelier manner, Ryuga, Troika and Saria excusing themselves to return their dishes back to the kitchen to be washed; Saria kindly collecting everyone else's on the way out if they were finished.

"Exactly… who are you all talking about?" Teddy interrupted with a whisper, looking around the room in a confused fashion. He nudged Mara beside him for answers when he noticed that no one else had heard him, but she was too absorbed in her novel to reply; let alone even listening to the current conversation the others were having. He pouted childishly, slouching in his seat as he continued to watch the others converse.

He eventually had tuned them out, glancing around to see Niles seemingly doodling in a notebook. Pulling his stuffed bear closer, he hopped from his chair and walked over to settle himself beside the other teen, curiously looking over his shoulder to see what he was doing. "You're… composing?" Teddy cocked his head, slightly disappointed to see a bunch of notes he couldn't really understand. He was expecting a mass of lines sketched on a blank page to create an image, or something like that after all.

Niles hummed in confirmation. "Are you interested in music?"

Teddy scrunched his nose a little, "I guess I don't really understand it; with all the different symbols and and stuff. But it's nice to listen to it." A hand descended upon his head and ruffled his already messy locks around.

"Hmm, well you never know. Maybe we'll find the time to teach you one day." Niles chuckled, closing the notebook and sliding it onto the table. He turned in his chair to face Teddy properly, "So tell me, what _do_ you enjoy?"

Resting his chin atop his toy bear, he looked up at Niles with a grin on his face. "Eating sweets! Oh, and weapons and sparring."

"Sweets? Do you have any favourites? Or just loads of sugar?" The blue-haired mage grinned with excitement – it was good to see another sweet tooth amongst their ranks. After all, the guild was practically divided between sweets and chocolate, or savoury and spice; it was a constant debate that had lasted too long in his opinion. "And as for weapons… well I'm sure you'll get along with quite a few of us around here. We're all able to handle weapons in one way or another." He unconsciously rested his hand on the hilt of one of his blades.

"Just sugar!" Teddy agreed with a quick nod of his head. "And will there be a day where I'll get to see everyone's weapons?"

"Hmm, not that I know of… maybe on Evaluation day," he paused to see a puzzled expression upon Teddy's features, "you know, the Vitality Check that Nagato was telling us about? It's a standard procedure we all go through once in a while whilst the rest of us – including each wing's army – watch."

The young boy opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the door slamming open and Raven's head popping through. "Ah, the new recruits are going to begin in ten minutes. I've just received notice that Gerald and the King want all of us to attend this time around." She announced, "The others are already on their way over, so I came to get you all." And so the sound of chairs scraping back against polished wooden floors resounded as they all jumped up to head over to the North Wing; which, of course, happened to be all the way on the other side of the castle.

.

As they settled into the seat on the small mezzanine they'd built there after a brawl that had broken out a few years back, the Northern training grounds already had all the new members lined up in an orderly fashion. Gerald was currently barking instructions and weaving in and out of the lines; inspecting each of the novices carefully. It seemed they were off to a good start, as only a couple of them were intimidated by the Constable's intense gaze. Charlie was quickly running through a few important things to mentally note about certain newcomers, but other than that, the guild watched them silently from above.

"ANY QUESTIONS?" Gerald yelled once his briefing was over.

A knight hovering near the centre of the group rose his hand for a salute, "Sir!"

"Yes, eighty-nine?" He scanned the man's profile with a hard glare, but the man remained unfazed.

"I apologize if this is personal, but I was wondering…" Recruit number 89 turned slightly toward the mezzanine, "Exactly what are they all doing here? They don't particularly seem like the type to know anything about war or fighting; I thought you said some professionals would be watching over us today? A-And, well, there are women up there as well… isn't that immoral?"

Gerald's bushy eyebrows rose high upon his forehead, clearing his throat before replying. "Well let me tell you, number eighty-nine. Here in this castle, we do not _discriminate_ or _stereotype_ against how someone might look. Let me tell you that they're all quite trained and well above any standard you can achieve."

Many of them who were looking up at the guild members turned away shamefully. The leader of the North army continued in his speech of praise; it seemed to happen every time someone dared to question Jupiter Reign's abilities. "I, myself, have lost many times against them. And _most_ of them are going to be the most kind-hearted people you might ever encounter. Knock that into your heads, boys… you'll be seeing them around quite often from now on; they'll be leading most of the session today."

The grounds fell silent as they all shuffled around uncomfortably. The guild let the silence continue for a few moments before Reese stepped forward, leaning forward on the railing with a grin. "Okay, as your first test… yell 'aye' if you think magic shouldn't exist."

Almost immediately, a chorus of 'ayes' filled the area and the determination of the rookies seemed to increase. Gerald took his time to saunter up to one of them and question why magic was such a bad thing. "Because magic is a curse… Sir." He replied swiftly.

"WRONG!" The Constable bellowed, causing half of them to jump slightly. "One hundred and two! Tell me what happens when a lion meets its prey."

"S-Sir! I believe that the prey is then destined to become the lion's next meal."

"Absolutely correct; in this case, you are considered the prey and the Raider Nation… they're the lions." His gaze flickered up to meet the guild's for a split second before facing his trainees once more. "So then, tell me what happens if a lion fought another lion."

.

.

.

"Either it'll be a draw, or one has to lose – but in our case, die." Ancidia helpfully supplied when no one else could. Gerald nodded as he paced in front of the group slowly.

"Are you implying that those people up there know magic?" A few of them questioned hesitantly, whilst the ones closest to the mezzanine inched away slightly. Questioning stares soon turned fearful when their reply was another simple nod. "But that's crazy! We can't have mages here, they'll kill us!"

"Oi, oi! If we're here to supposedly murder you, then what do you think the Raiders are going to do to you?" Reese growled lowly, "We're here to do exactly what you're here for; take back Gladiolus. Rather than simply lose to those traitors again, the King has decided to try fighting fire with fire."

"Well you're certainly right, little boy." Balthazar drawled with a chuckle. He held a glass of whisky in his hand and swirled it around lazily. "Any one of us could outdo you all. After all, from where we stand, you're just ants that'll eventually be squashed beneath our shoes one day."

A certain recruit began shouting nonsense, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis, "This is impossible, all wizards and witches either joined the Raiders or formed dark guilds. Even if they were the same... species... as those Raiders, it doesn't mean they're tough to beat; all the good ones would've left ages ago."

"Hey, number thirty-six was it?" Nagato stood near railing with his arms crossed, "If you need the proof how 'bad' we are, then go ahead and take your pick – choose one of us to spar against."

The man was quick to be caught in the guild's trap, and pointed off to the side with a confident tone. "Fine, I pick whomever just entered." Each of the mage's attention turned toward the doors that lead to the platform they stood on.

The woman who'd walked in looked up, as if caught red-handed. "Huh, me?"

Long, luscious pink hair flowed down to her waist as she cocked her head, and her pink eyes blinked owlishly as she gazed around. She had an hourglass figure, but the slight muscle seen on her exposed arms and legs proved she wasn't to be messed with. Currently dressed in a simple yellow t-shirt and white shorts, her red guild mark could be seen proudly on her left shoulder. She also wore black knee high boots and black arm bands. The woman stood at an average height for her age, and matched with fair, yet healthy skin, she could only be seen as a true beauty.

"My, Sakura… you're back earlier than expected." Balthazar walked over and gently kissed the back of her hand.

The woman merely smiled, "Yes. It's good to see you too, though such a greeting wasn't really necessary…" She trailed off and grimaced slightly at the fact her hand was still in his. "I know you prefer such frivolous and perverse things in your life, but I'd really prefer if I wasn't part of it."

At that point, Ancidia took it as her cue to walk over the smack the male hedonist up the head. "Oh, get over yourself, would you?" she rolled her eyes as Balthazar sent her a seething look. "How did the job go, by the way?" she turned her attention back to Sakura.

"It was just a simple job asking to get rid of one of the 'dark guilds'. I'm surprised there are still so many of them around here when they could've gone to the Raiders." The pinkette shrugged and stepped closer to the railing, peering down toward the training ground.

"Well, it's possible that the dark guilds don't want to be controlled by anyone. Not having any legal guilds around is what makes that possible. They don't know about us anyway, so I guess I can see their reasoning for creating a dark guild – though it's really pointless if you ask me." Ancidia voiced her thoughts, causing everyone to hum in agreement. She smiled and nudged Sakura, "Anyway, pretty boy number thirty-six down there seems to be getting antsy for a match against you." She spoke jokingly.

Sakura gave a cheerful laugh. "Is that so? Well I better not keep him waiting." She over the railing, landing safely on the training ground with a soft thud, "How does a simple swordfight sound? And since I'm dealing with some non-mages here, I suppose I'll give you a handicap."

"And what'll that be?" the man sneered, drawing his training sword from its sheath. The weapon gleamed in the mid-morning sun as he waved it around a little – trying to seem menacing.

"It's simple." The 21 year-old grinned, clasping her hands together. "For the first five minutes, attack as much as you'd like. And I'll remain without my own weapon. After that, well, we'll have to wait and see."

The new recruit placed his left foot back, ready to launch forward as soon as he was given signal to start. "Perfect," he growled, "five minutes is more than enough for even the weakest in this room."

"I wouldn't be quite so sure…" Ryuga muttered beneath his breath. It was obvious to the members of Jupiter's Reign and the Constable that trainee number thirty-six had already made two mistakes; the first was deciding to charge in head on, and the second was even accepting the handicap in the first place. No doubt that when it was Sakura's turn to strike, that the man would be down on the floor within seconds if he had all his tactics and fighting tendencies revealed and analysed.

All the to-be-soldiers crowded soon around the pair, and a small battle ring had been formed as they watched with interest. Some were chanting aloud, and others simply looked on with amusement. Of course, the ones who remained calm were the most commendable – and were the most likely to succeed. After the break-in session for all the new comers, those who seemed most capable would go on to have private training sessions every-so-often with the members of Jupiter's Reign. This happened either every two weeks or once a month; depending on how busy the guild was. If they were given the right to join such sessions, those who did would be at a higher level than others, and could sometimes be offered a promotion.

The moment Gerald had counted down from three, the other man had charged toward Sakura with fierce determination; his sword held tightly on his right side. He thrust the sword straight toward the centre of her stomach, before swiping his leg across the ground to throw the woman off balance as she dodged the first attack. As his leg came toward her, she landed on the balls of her feet and immediately tucked her body inward to perform a front flip. She stood back up as her opponent turned back around to face each other. "Not bad." the two commented toward one another, although the man held a hostile tone in his words.

Sakura merely brushed off the double meaning behind his words and continued. "However, after one attack you really shouldn't be breathing so heavily or sweating so profusely. You've got some potential, but you should work on your stamina. I'm guessing in your hometown you're able to finish people off just like that." She snapped her fingers as if to make a point. However, her critique seemed to set him off as he vigorously began to slash at her wildly, not giving any thought to anything else but beating his foe.

Up on the mezzanine, the guild sighed audibly. "Aw~…" Anicidia groaned with a pout, "He just had to be _that_ kind of fighter. Why is there always that one newcomer who just charges with no real tactic?"

"A sore loser at most." Mara blew away the pale stands of hair that had fallen over her eyes. She watched for another few seconds before turning around to sit in a chair and cracking open her book. Saria flopped down in the seat beside her, letting Pyocious rest in her lap as she played with her braid. Most of the guild followed after them, getting bored and sitting down to strike up a casual conversation.

It wasn't long before Sakura finally stopped dodging his futile attempts and stopped his sword by grabbing the blade. Blood spread around her palm and began to drip down her wrist as she tightened her hold on the weapon, ripping it out of the man's grasp and tossing it aside. A large pink seal formed and a soft glow encased her uninjured hand as a long sword appeared in the empty grip of her palm. There was a jewel embedded in the centre of the blade, though it was currently dull due to no other magical force behind it. "It seems like your five minutes are up."

"Oh my, that was a little reckless." Lucretzia commented, blinking owlishly, "But Sakura's looking somewhat under the weather today, don't you think?"

Niles shrugged, "She probably hasn't had much rest after constantly travelling around for the past week. I'll bet that after this she'll be heading up to her room for some sleep."

"I suppose so…" Charlie grimaced, "And sleep isn't thing only thing that she'll need recovering from."

The pink haired woman took slow steps toward her 'enemy', her sword hanging loosely by her side. Those around her waited in anticipation at the turn of events; after all, all the other man was doing was recklessly swinging a weapon around. As she lifted her arm to attack, thirty-six flinched and tried to back away, only to stop when Sakura gave and bubbly laugh and let her rapier disappear back to its re-quip space. "Look, I'm really not interested in fighting right now… I was only playing along for the time being." She smiled brightly, "You're free just this once, but next time let's hope you make a better opponent."

Chuckles burst out around them as the man looked to the floor, ashamed of his previous actions. "Whatever…" he managed to mutter. Before walking back to his assigned position, hoping that others would follow.

"W-wait… I want to test their skills as well! Barely anything happened after all. _This_ ," the trainee jabbed a finger toward Sakura, "didn't do anything but dodge."

"Is that so? Because I think we'd be more than happy to oblige." Lucretzia gestured to the rest of the guild, "Why don't you take your pick?"

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Ryuga Haruya - U-Know Yunho**

 **Niles Holland - PoisonBanana**

 **Lucretzia "LuLu" Zemerik - Benthino**

 **Sakura Skyheart - altajir95**

 **.**

 _ **No review responses this time 'round…  
I do hope you all enjoyed though.**_

 **-Crisis**


	6. Introduction V

**Fairy Tail is not mine; all I own is this plot :)**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 **October 15, X821 [2:25pm]**

It'd been a few days since the new recruits had accepted their defeat, and the guild were now spread out among the castle. And with the best view overlooking the city of Stone Cress, Milo Vincent sat on the castle rooftop, idly playing with the laces of his left shoe. His right foot seemed to tap against the stone floor in a rhythmic beat, the sound dulled from the rubber on the bottom of his prosthetic leg.

The 19 year old teen had joined just under a year ago, and his guild mark was placed on his left shoulder blade in a sky blue, though left unseen due to his clothes. The boy wore a simple white t-shirt with an unbuttoned sky blue plaid shirt over the top; the shirt billowing out behind him in the light breeze. He also had light brown cargo shorts with two pockets down each side, along with a solid red handkerchief tied around his face; covering his nose and mouth. His complexion was of a light, natural tan and his eyes a bright yellow, fading toward a dark blue toward his pupil with small flecks of green in between. His hair was slightly spiky yet fluffy at the same time, but the messy locks reached his shoulders in a tumble of light orange and tinted brown. He had broad shoulders and a lean build, adding to his figure of an athletic man.

He let out a soft sigh and sharply turned at the sound of the thud behind him. "Ah, Cassia… it's just you." He breathed before turning back to face the view before him, eying the crowds of people wandering around town below.

The girl's eyes narrowed at the sight of him sitting there. She wasn't expecting someone else to be on the rooftop after all, much less someone from Jupiter's Reign. "Tch." She voiced, a tone of annoyance threaded its way into her words, "Why're you up here? Not that I really care…"

"Hmm, what's wrong with me coming up here for some fresh air?" Milo rolled his eyes a little, patting the spot beside him, internally accepting the fact that Cassia had probably found this place first, and he was now invading it. He heard her huff, before walking over and settling down beside him nonetheless.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring out into the distance where they could see past Stone Cress and into the next city over; Allium. Mainly because the Cathedral stood tall, at two-thirds of the height that the castle was. There was no real road or train line between the neighbouring towns, just a wide boardwalk through a cluster of trees. Because of this, the area was often left unguarded, only to be checked upon when whomever was on duty that day made their rounds, which was about once every hour.

"Just so you know, I'm not here because I want to stay or anything. Y-You should be glad I'm even talking to you." The young woman crossed her arms and scrunched her nose. Cassia had wine-red hair that was styled into high twin-tails, curling at the ends where it reached her waist. Her bang were swept to the left, and strands were left hanging loosely to frame her face. With a short stature of 5'5, she had a surprisingly generous chest along with a lean figure. Her skin held a peachy complexion, highlighting the sharp, golden eyes she had. Her outfit consisted of brown plaid shorts, dark brown riding boots, and a long-sleeved black turtleneck that covered her wine-red guild mark placed in between her shoulder blades.

"Ah yes, I'm very grateful." Milo pretended to nod solemnly and stood up, brushing off invisible dust from his backside. He hopped from one foot to another for a few moments, testing the stability of his prosthetic leg. He pointed to the opposite side of the castle, where the scenery was a simple mountain range with few trees and plenty of jagged edges. "How 'bout a race? Just to pass some time before Nagato or Ryuga come to get us for the meeting with the King and the Officials. To the top of the first mountain and back; it shouldn't take longer than maybe 20 minutes."

Cassia rose and scoffed as though his idea was daft. "Hmph, don't blame me if you end up tripping over and bleeding out. I would rather deal with the foreboding sight of grey clouds than your squealing fire."

"Flamenco! I'm hurt." Milo placed a hand over his heart in a sardonic manner. He paused for a moment, on the verge of laughter, but gave up in the end, wiping a tear from his eye as he chuckled breathlessly. He knew he wasn't the only one, but many found Cassia's character quite humorous in the way she constantly expressed herself. There were times where she may go a bit too far, but otherwise the guild found it to be comical.

The girl raised her eyebrows at the mention of her last name, but said nothing else as a set of fiery -wings flared from her shoulder blades; its flames dancing around one another as she gave them a few experimental flaps. With a sharp glare, she began to lift herself, and skim across the ground to the edge of the rooftop. "To the top of the first mountain was it? You have to bring a Mok berry back too, as proof."

"Deal."

.

A string of notes resounded throughout the room as a soft melody was played. A piano accompaniment soon joined in as Niles' fingers flew over the keys. Tristan's head bopped along to the beat as he strummed the guitar he held in his hands. The two stopped after a few moments, grinning as Tristan stood up and walked over to the piano. "That was nice." He spoke, "But maybe you could place a rest between the C minor and the G here."

"Ah the G major? Yeah I think that'll work, I'll do the same for Milo and Iris' parts." Niles picked up a pencil and scribbled in the new symbol. He paused for a moment before scrawling in a few more notes at the end of the page. "And how about that for the next four beats?"

"Seems good, but we could probably go through and repeat that twice before switching into an F sharp before playing the final chords." The older male added in, pointing to a few spots on the music paper. "After that we could probably call Lucretzia and Saria in to write a few lyrics if they want to."

The pianist gave a confirmative nod, "Of course, the King asked me if we could perform it at their next dinner party."

"Hmmm," the black haired boy smiled, rather sheepishly, "make me feel like we're taking the musicians' jobs don't you think?"

"Ah well, the Master has his orders." Niles shrugged, "Shall we run through it once more?"

Tristan nodded and went to sit back down when the door burst open and a young girl tumbled in. One look at the panic-stricken girl was enough to set both boys off. "Iris! What's wrong?" He jumped up to place a comforting hand on his teammate. He looked up at Niles for a moment, who seemed to immediately understand and backed off, muttering something about finding Raven to help calm Iris down.

The 18 year old was currently clutching at the silver cross draped around her neck, her large, blue-green doe eyes squeezed closed. Her pale pink, long wavy hair was unkempt, and her natural pale skin was even paler in comparison, the smatter of freckles she had disappearing as she scrunched her nose. At 5'6 in height, she currently wore a sleeveless red dress with black ankle boots and a white jacket over the top; the jacket's sleeves only reaching up to her elbows. Under what she wore, Iris also had henna tattoos covering her body, the main one that could be seen were the stars that curled its way up and around her ankle. On her collarbone was the guild's signature king's chess piece in a light blue, and her pierce ears currently hand long, dangling earrings in them.

"Hey, tell me what's wrong." Raven called out to the girl, breathing heavily as she'd rushed over as soon as Niles had explained the situation. Her arms reached around the younger girl to pull her into a hug.

Iris gulped, "I-I don't really know… but there was a spider in the library and when I tried to shoo it away, its babies jumped from its back and started crawling toward me!" she shuddered at the thought of being attacked by such vile creatures.

"I-It's okay." Raven placed a hand upon her racing heart, calming down when she realized the situation wasn't anything too out of hand, "I'll go and ask one of the maids to clean the library then, if you feel safer that way."

The pinkette quietly voiced an agreement, and the girl left the room as quickly as she came, glancing once at Tristan in the form of unspoken words. The twenty-five year old nodded once before leading Iris out of the room and downstairs to the guildhall. Pushing the door open, he guided her in and sat her down in the closest chair, petting her head lightly. They sat there for a few moments in the silence as everyone else in the room continued to do their own thing.

"…Oh, is now a bad time?" The two mages looked up to see Lucretzia standing there with a small package in her hands. Her expression morphed into one of worry as she saw Iris' hands still shaking slightly from shock. With a small smile, she gave a tiny bow to excuse herself and made to turn away when she was suddenly called back.

"No, now's fine. I'm perfectly fine now." Iris stopped her from leaving, a bubbly grin now gracing her features. "I'm not too sure why, but the spirits seem to be telling me that you've got something important for us? Though they're not too sure of whether it's good or bad news." she frowned in puzzlement, but pulled a smiled back up onto her lips as she held out her hand. "Am I right to assume that the package is for Tristan or I?"

"Almost correct, it's for both of you actually." Lucretzia carefully place the box into the girl's hands. "I bumped into Charlie a little earlier, and she seemed a little flustered so I offered to deliver this to you for her."

"Ah, thank you… that reminds me. Niles and I just finished the composition for the song we're performing. If you're free right now, maybe you could head up to the music room and write some lyrics?" The boy suggested, seeing that the latter seemed to be floating around from place to place, looking a little bit bored.

Lavender eyes widened with a glimmer of excitement as she was quick to take him up on his offer. "Sounds like quite the plan. Hopefully it'll keep me busy until dinner; honestly, the jobs haven't been of a high standard and most others don't have the time to spar with me lately. But I'm curious as to see what you've all come up with now! Maybe I'll go fetch Saria too while I'm at it… I'm fairly sure I last saw her in the garden with Pyocious."

The two waved as she left, the door clicking back into place soon after. They turned their attention back to the boxed parcel that Iris had placed on the table. It was rather small, but the addressees were definitely to a _'Sir Marx and Miss Grace of Stone Cress'_. Tristan frowned before picking it up and shaking it lightly for sound; there definitely wouldn't be anything harmful like an explosive in there, or one of them would have sniffed it out already. The addressees were also quite specific, unless they were the only targets or something. But that would be near impossible since they barely gave their names out to the general public – that and no one really knew they existed. So that really left them with one option; their last teammate.

They swiftly tore into the wrapping, opening one end of the box to let the contents fall out. A single, black die with white dots tumbled onto the table, along with a small slip of paper. "This is… unusual of her. Why would she send us part of her lucky item? She's always keeps them on her. There's no magic embedded into the paper either." Iris commented, picking up the paper. Reading through the tiny script, her eyes reflected delight as she released a heavy sigh that she'd been holding for the past few days.

' _Soon… and that's a promise.'_

.

A man clicked his tongue in annoyance as he voiced a complaint for the nth time that day. "Ugh, so why do I have to be stuck here with you guys again?"

"Because we simply cannot have you out in the public with your Casanova ways, with the possibility of ruining the Kingdom's reputation if your proper identity were to be discovered." The reply came instantly without hesitation. Three men from the guild were currently in a large room, watching over some of the new trainees as they ran laps around the room in full armour and extra weights. Quite boring actually, but Gerald was currently with the East Admiral.

"Hmm, whatever." The man stood up and began to walk out with a huff.

Nagato frowned and spoke to the older man in a warning tone before he managed to open the door, "Gareth…"

The said man turned around irritably, "What? You have no control over me." His round, amber eyes flashed with anger. Spikey silver hair seemed to bristle in agreement to his current emotion as his pale skin flushed red. His white, long-sleeved shirt did nothing to hide his guild mark placed on the right side of his neck. He also wore a pair of blue pants and leather boots were worn of his feet. Though he stood slightly shorter than the man currently berating him – at 5'10, he made up for it with his muscular build. In his hand, he tossed a silver gemstone up and down tauntingly.

"But you're not King. The cockier you get, the less likely you are to survive this war." Nagato allowed no further argument in his cold tone, keeping a level head as he pointed for Gareth to sit back down against the wall. Glancing up again, he called out to the third mage who was joining in on the laps that the recruits were running. "Jake, how're you holding up?"

"Good, good." He called back, "No one's managed to pass me yet, but I believe that we should be stopping sometime soon. Come on boys! I think this is the third time I've overlapped you without using my magic. How do you expect to win a fight – let alone a war with ample stamina and speed?"

At 5'7, the slightly muscular 18 year old was simply running circles around the group members, his messy green hair tangling with the wind. His sharp brown eyes held a look of encouragement and his white complexion didn't even show the beginnings of sweat or redness from the amount of exercise he was doing. Dressed in a greed jacket layered over a blue shirt, he stood out from the rest of the armour-clad crowd. A golden pocket watch thumped against his leg, swinging from the belt loop of his brown shorts. His brown shoes also seemed to have no sign of wearing out anytime soon despite his love for running around everywhere.

Looking around at the exhausted faces, the young boy slowly came to a stop and dropped the weights in his hands, the others following suit. Walking over to a side wall, he reached into the small compartment places there before pulling out a pitcher of water and cups. "Now, when regaining breath, don't hunch over… you need to expose your lungs more place your hands behind your head, breath slowly, and take a cool down lap." Jake explained, handing out the water along the way. "We begin again in ten minutes."

Following his instructions, they all looked at one another wearily, obviously not used to such training methods. "And we still have sword skills for another hour." One grumbled, avoiding Nagato's eyes as he walked past. No doubt that he'd be even harsher than Jake.

The minutes passed by quickly as they were lead into a series of stretches before they were sent back to their usual line-up formation. Nagato began weaving his way in and out of each line, drawing out their standard swords from their sheaths and throwing them into the back wall. Each embedded into the wood with a small _thud_ , making the men stand up straighter. Gareth laughed, having calmed down. "You'll get those back later." He teased.

"But… aren't you trying to improve our sword skills?" they objected, feeling uncomfortable that their weapon of attack had been taken from them. A few placed a hand over their empty sheath, as is trying to recover the loss of their pride. After all, each of their swords had apparently been smithed to their needs and specialties just yesterday, and now it was like they were being stripped from their knighthood.

"Yes, but today we shall train with metal poles. Of course, they're also filled with lead." Jake walked over, carrying three of the poles in each hand before throwing one each at the knights in the first row. Catching them – or attempting to – most of them breathed out a heavy grunt from the unfamiliar, denser weigh than that of a sword. They were, however, the same length as a normal blade. Disappearing into the storage room, the youngest mage in the room once again returned with more metal poles. "Anyway, there's no need to get agitated… the other current trainees will also receive this same training session. As did the other groups before you, and as will the groups arriving after you."

"May I ask what the other groups are currently doing?"

"Today they're most likely going through basic defence, basic first aid, swimming, meditation and basic survival needs." Gareth listed from his fingers as Nagato and Jake sent him curious stares. He adopted an innocent expression and shrugged, "What? This isn't the first time I've had to be cooped up during the first rounds of training sessions. Most of the guild has had to 'monitor' me at some point… Wednesday was kinda depressing though. She kept going on about how everyone in the room was going to die anyway, so her training session couldn't really be called training."

The room fell quiet, as if even mentioning the pessimistic girl's name called for a moment of depressing silence. As the rookies shuffled around, Nagato took lead once again, making his way back up to the front of the room. He took one of the temporary weapons for himself, passing one on to Gareth who grunted, but snatched it anyway. He stood up and went to stand beside Nagato, as did Jake.

"Let's begin." Nagato murmured, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He quickly ducked as Gareth swung him. Jake took this opportunity to advance on him as he rolled forward, attempting to knock Jake's pole out of the way with his own. As the young boy began to push back, Nagato took the force and used it to get the green haired boy to run into Gareth, lightly using his pole to tap Jake on the back.

Before they collided, Gareth moved out of the way and made to charge at his opponent. Meeting him halfway, they clashed 'swords' and began in a flurry of attacks. They fought for the next two minutes before both stepping back to bow. "Thank you."

"No problem." Gareth shrugged before heading back to his spot against the wall. He dropped the pole, causing a small dust cloud to rise up from the ground. "But if we were using real swords, you'd be dead by now… just so you know."

"I believe we would've had an equal chance." Nagato commented loosely. Turning back to the others, he pointed to them with his weapon. "Tell me, could you see our weapons as Gareth and I were fighting?"

"Erm, not really. It was all just a blur." One spoke. "But I did pick up that the kid 'died' when you tapped him on the back."

"Correct." He nodded, "If we were using real swords, that is. So with that in mind, imagine if Gareth and I really were using real weapons? At what pace would our swords be moving?"

"Really fast…?" a soldier in the front row answered.

Gareth snorted and rolled his eyes. "That was a rhetorical question. Idiot."

Nagato chose to ignore the man and continued on with what he was saying. "The point it, this lead pole is supposed to make your sword feel lighter and easier to wield at the end of the final session using these. You will do five-hundred swings on each arm before we end today's session. Just because you are dominant in one hand, it doesn't mean you should slack off on training with the other one."

"That makes sense, no wonder why my sword was heavier than I'd asked for."

"Well, now you know." Gareth spoke dryly.

Jake gave the older man a pitiful glance. "Gareth, your commentary is really unnecessary…"

.

The guards outside gave a salute as they opened the double doors for Raven. She seemed to be the first person to walk into the meeting that afternoon. Her ponytail bobbed up and down as she made her way over to the refectory table; the design had been styled to have the table sit just about 10 inches above the ground. Taking off her shoes, she politely settled onto one of the cushions placed around the table, tucking her legs beneath her in a respectful manner.

"Hello Raven. How've you been?"

"Ah, hello. I've been good." She nodded absentmindedly.

There was a light chuckle from the seat across hers. "That's great! It's been a while, have I missed anything important in the past few weeks?"

"Hmm, not really. There is a Vitality Check soon though, and a boy named Teddy joined as well." Raven frowned slightly, feeling as though something was amiss. She wasn't hearing voices, was she? Blinking a few times, she rubbed at her eyes to find a familiar woman smiling at her. Her brown orbs widened in disbelief as she took in the woman before her. "Maeve. You're back?"

Maeve Ross sat there, wearing her usual outfit of a collared light blue blouse, tucked into an ankle length black skirt with slits down either side. On her feet were a pair of white socks with frills, and placed behind her, her favourite pair of brown lace-up boots. At 5'5 the 24 year old had round, hazel irises that seemed to fit well with her midnight blue locks – styled onto a loose bun atop her head with a blunt-cut fringe. Her skin tone was of a healthy ivory colour, and her build was slightly curvaceous with a bit of muscle tone. Her guild mark was currently hidden beneath her clothes, but a single black dice with white dots hovered just above the palm of her hand.

"Yeah," Maeve smiled softly in reply, "It's really been a while." The two girls leaned over the table for a hug, embracing each other for a few moments before pulling back with a grin. "Though it's a bit sad that nothing much has changed. I was hoping for something drastic to come back to."

"Well, they say there's no place like home." Raven joked, looking toward the doors as they creaked open once again.

The next few to walk in seemed to be more focused, and noticed the presence of the returnee almost immediately, unlike Raven. They all greeted her happily, thankful she'd actually made it back. Jobs assigned by the King were always tough after all. "Maeve, it's good to see you back in one piece." Ryuga nodded toward her. "Where'd you come back from? Do Tristan and Iris know you've returned?"

"Good afternoon Ryuga. And yes, I sent them a message a few days ago… but I made a silly mistake of not sending it earlier. They're probably expecting me back later this week, rather than today." She scratched her cheek in embarrassment and went to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I feel really bad for not sending anything back until now."

"Really, I'm sure it's okay. As long as you're safe y'know?" Ancidia was quick to reassure.

The last few guild members streamed in, and Maeve's eyes lit up as she jumped from her cushion and rushed over to her teammates, enveloping them into a bear hug. "Tristan, Iris! It's nice to see you again!"

"Y-You're back sooner than we'd expected…" Iris wheezed, partially in shock and also due to the bone-crushing embrace. She opened her mouth to say more, but before they could properly reunite, the Royal Highnesses and the Officials filed in, one by one slowly seating themselves into the velvet chairs. Seeing King Decim's solemn expression, they sent eachother a look of promise to talk later before swiftly going back to kneel down on the cushions.

Not one to waste time, the King cleared his throat, letting the meeting commence. As usual, he went straight to the point, "We gather here today, to discuss the undercover findings of the Raiders. Miss Ross has been observing the Raiders during her time of disappearance, and has come back with the news that the Raiders will be attempting to invade Gladiolus under the pretence that they are merely normal citizens."

"So our job is to find them, and make sure they don't get any further than…?"

"Freesia." Gerald stated. "You have to hold them off before they reach that point, and make sure a barrier is created at the border of both Empires. However long this takes, our armies will take over your usual duties of the jobs requested by citizens."

"But what if one of the soldiers get caught up with an undercover Raider?"

"They'll be given orders to keep a close eye on them, but to wait for your back up. We cannot afford to send our strongest armies out just yet. And those that do get placed on the job still don't have enough skill to defeat them with confidence." The Constable supplied.

Words continued to be fired back and forth as they discusses certain ideas and plans for different situations. There was the occasional moment of frustration, and the meeting had well exceeded an hours' time when it finally began to come to an end. "I'll give you a week to plan this out. I want you in your usual teams, as you're already best acquainted with each other's skills… Teddy, you will be in Iris' team. I believe your magic works well with theirs. Please think carefully using the time you've received; we may have to begin earlier if they invade within the next two days."

"Yes, Master."

"Your Vitality Check will be in 3 days, just to be certain you're all fit to go." The King's gaze drifted over a few of the guild members before he released a sigh. "Only time will tell, if you shall be the last generation of this guild. But I've come to believe that this century-old war… may come to an end in the hands of you; Jupiter's Reign."

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Milo Vincent - Phantom Wish**

 **Cassia Flamenco - Candied Snowflakes**

 **Irisviel Grace - Wanderstar**

 **Jake Derrickson - Deadly101**

 **Gareth Falchion - Heatnation**

 **Maeve Ross - Crisis**

 **.**

 **So that was the link toward the next arc, I know it's different to the prologue, but both still lead to the same concept/problem (and it may have seemed like I got lazy toward the end, but I just didn't want the chapter to be too long). There is still one last introduction chapter where we see the Raider's side of things.**

 **REVIEW CORNER**

 _ **Benthino;**_ Thank goodness you enjoyed it! I was a bit worried about posting after taking such a long break. And thank you for the feedback, I really enjoyed writing Lucretzia. And yes, while there is no longer an old Black Bear, I'm happy I decided to continue this one. Thank you :)

 _ **PoisonBanana;**_ Well, those trainees are still in for a lot more. I think we may see them in training quite a few times throughout the story. Sometimes they're good for comedic lines. Anyway, I'm glad I've continued this story as well! Thanks heaps!

 _ **Candied Snowflakes;**_ Well yes, people often judge abnormalities and I'm trying to relate back to the olden days as well after all, where women are seen as objects, or simple housewives. It's fun to show that anyone can kick ass anyway CX I hope I've depicted Cassia well!

 _ **ShadedLyht;**_ Ah, yes… I'm really sorry for the long wait. But hopefully I won't be on hiatus often. Maybe only when I've got exams approaching. Anyway, I'm sorry you didn't get to see who was challenged next, but the story's gotta continue, and we'll be seeing much more action in the future! Thank you for the review!

 _ **Blue Blast;**_ Thank you for the compliment :) It means a lot to me! And yes, I'm feeling much better now that everything's over. Especially after everyone's reviews… they make me really happy! ^_^ I hope you've enjoyed this chapter just as much as the previous one!

 _ **Grimlock Ebonheart;**_ I hope you this chapter was as entertaining as the last one you've read, and yes, I think most of the guild members will have a small scene with the new recruits. You'll just have to wait and see what Tristan decides to do!

 _ **altajir65;**_ Well you saw some action from Sakura already! But everyone's definitely going to have a few bad ass scenes here and there, you'll just have to be a bit patient! I'm glad you liked the chapter!

 _ **U-Know Yunho;**_ I'm happy you've remembered this story then! And I'm glad I've done Ryuga justice in the previous chapter. I actually began writing him as slightly more mature, but changed a few of his lines as I was editing XD. Hopefully you've enjoyed this chapter as well.

* * *

 **-Crisis**


	7. Introduction VI

**I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail, just this story and a few of its characters.  
Please excuse any horrible errors, I did proofread, but it's quite late so I might've missed some.**

* * *

 _ **RAIDER NATION  
**_ **October 16, X821 [10:41am]**

Footsteps echoed throughout the stone walls of the central palace, headed in the direction of the throne room where most meetings were held. Of course, no one knew who the Head of the Raiders was – save for their alias, but nonetheless, each leader followed the absolute demands of this man or woman. Besides the main castle, each leader had their own small area of their nation to control. One of these leaders happened to be Azalea Roots.

The 29 year old female seemed to walk with an air of inanity, her wide, innocent amber eyes making her look slightly childish and gullible. Her light green hair tumbled all the way down her back and stopped at her calves, curling at the ends. The long hair was loosely tied together near the ends with a white ribbon and two red flowers. Similarly, her bangs were swept to the left and clipped into place with a white flower. At 5'9, she wore a long, dark green crochet jacket that reached her ankles, along with a white-layered dress underneath that stopped at her knees. She was currently barefoot, and her golden Raider mark of a dagger connected to a chain could be seen on the side of her left calf. Her complexion was pale, making it hard to see the scars that littered both hands.

Walking at a fairly fast pace, the woman suddenly stopped and turned around to face the two, towering men behind her. "Must you hurry me so much? I like to take my time you know." She pouted a little, causing the two guards to fidget a little.

"But Miss, our orders are to escort you to the meeting safely." One tried to explain, "Preferably on time, too."

Her pout grew as she twirled a flower in her hands. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself… and how come the other boys never have escorts? Ares made it here at the same time I did and no one stopped him from wandering off…" she trailed off, her eyes drifting from the two men before her to the window facing the back gardens, "Look, the bluebells I planted last time are beginning to bloom! Oh, but you two don't know the difference between a bluebell and a daisy do you?"

The two guards cleared their throats, "Sorry Miss, but we were asked to escort you to make sure you don't wander off again like last time." Their voices grew quieter as they waited for the woman to burst out in anger or something presumably along the same lines of getting agitated.

But in contrast to the earful they expected, she leaned forward to grasp the first guard's left hand to look at the engagement ring and studied him closely. "Hmm, are you getting married soon? I'd love to help out with the colour scheme and the flowers for your wedding if it's any time soon. Judging from your character, your fiancée seems like she'd be quite feminine and cutesy, maybe even somewhat short and…" she jumped back a little and pointed at him accusingly, "are you a Lolicon?!"

"W-What…?" The man spluttered, shaking his head vigorously, "No! Definitely not!"

Silence ensued as her eyes still told him that she didn't believe him, but thankfully, she dropped the subject. "Ah well, congratulations nonetheless. I'll send some flowers over when I get back to my own residence. There's much more variety of flora in my garden than the one here. What was your name and address again?"

"Miss Roots, now is really not the time. You have a meeting to get to." The man grunted, though his was blushing from the sudden intrusion into his personal life. He nudged the other guard beside him, who quickly straightened his posture and nodded in agreement. Both looked at her meaningfully, daring her to challenge the orders of her higher-up.

Releasing a long, stubborn breath, she crossed her arms and turned to face away, "Fine. But I'll be expecting an invitation to that wedding sooner or later." Her legs stretched out before her, setting a fast pace onward to the board room and she muttered half-heartedly beneath her breath. "My goodness, I wander off a couple of times and now I suddenly need a chaperon?"

"Hmm, well I suppose it wouldn't be good if you let your mind wander again. After all, besides Ares, you're always late to arrive. Mercy will begin to doubt your loyalty if you keep doing that." A smooth voice joined in from beside her. The man – 10 years her junior, had been promoted to leader in the Third Unit only a few month ago, yet had easily slipped into the routine of his new role.

Considered quite the looker for his age, the 6 foot tall mage had a slim build, made up for with a generous amount of muscle. His shaggy blonde hair fell down to the length of his shoulders, and a gold band worn around his crown also conveniently kept the stray strands away from his face. His eyes were considered a mystery; the mix of blue, green, gold and violet hues often leaving others confused. The pale man's outfit consisted of a simple light-blue long-sleeved button-down and black pants along with a worn pair of sandals. Around his neck was a gold snake and grapevine necklace, and if one were paying attention, they'd be able to see a faint outline of the man's black Raider mark through his thin shirt, placed on his right pectoral.

"Titanus!" Azalea greeted the young boy with ease, despite his sudden appearance. "What do you mean, my loyalty?"

The boy's eyes glinted as he answered her question, "Don't take me for my word… but rumour has it that Mercy is suspecting that you're secretly working for Gladiolus. Anyway, the more the Head begins to suspect you, the more likely you'll find yourself 6 feet under. You're the Fourth Unit after all."

"Fourth Unit or even First Unit… should that really matter?" Azalea blinked in confusion, having never known that they were considered 'rankings', "Even so, there's still the Fifth Unit as well."

"But we know next to nothing about the Fifth Unit anyway, so they must have a rather tight bond with Mercy." Titanus mused. "Oh, that reminds me! Apparently the meeting today is because someone managed to break in; though it seems almost impossible to me, they managed to get past all the guards and the Second Unit twice! I'll bet Mercy is looking for revenge."

"Eh? A break in? It's the first I've heard of it. I thought everything had been the same old for the past few weeks." The woman paused, "Although, it might just be because I'm settled in the far North-East and the Second Unit are somewhere in the West."

The younger nodded. "Quite possibly so. Let us hope the Second Unit's leader will be given a second chance. Otherwise he'd probably be subjected to the dungeons until they find time to place his head on a pike or something." He glanced at Azalea's expression before chuckling, "Of course, I'm only kidding – that was far back from when the war had just begun. However it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he were exiled and labelled as a rogue, that way, others will do the dirty work for Mercy."

"Well then, I hope he has a fair reason for his mistakes." The older mage clasped her hands together, "We should hurry along in case Mercy is in one of his moods."

.

A 6'2 tall pale man took slow steps in the opposite direction of the meeting room. Long, light brown hair was loosely tied into a low pony tail. Stray strands of his hair rested around his face and covered most of his eyes – revealing the slightest bit of pale blue irises contained in almond shaped eyes. Dressed rather formally, he wore a simple white button up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Around his neck was a loose black tie that matched his formal black slacks and shoes. Draped over his shoulders was the last part of his suit – the black jacket. Furthermore, a single black leather glove was worn on his left hand. The man had his lip pierced, a serpent-shaped ring placed in it. Finally, his grey Raider mark was placed upon the side of his neck.

Sighing to himself, the man continued to walk away from his destination, ignoring the sound of trailing footsteps behind him. That is, until his servant spoke up. "M-Master Joste, shouldn't you turn back around I thought the room we passed by three doors ago was the meeting room? It wouldn't be good to be late…"

"Of course, I understand such consequences. However, you must know that I'm always the first one to arrive at such events. It should be in your knowledge by now that I am a man of punctuality." Wyre frowned as he spoke his first sentence. Yes, Mercy's name was quite contradictive. His mistake as not only the Second Unit leader, but also as the Gate Moderator, could surely cost him his own life. He could only hope that Mercy was in one of his good moods.

"I see." The servant nodded, running a little to catch up to the taller man and walk beside Wyre, "So then, what do you do if you're the first one there? Wouldn't it be boring to just sit there and wait?" the young girl's eyes were bright with curiosity as she peered up at him.

A chuckle emitted through his throat as he replied, "You're right – it's quite a bore. That's why I'm wandering around out here."

"Ooh, I think I understand now!" She clapped her hands, "You've left one of your magic selves back in the meeting room to return to when everyone else gets there, right?"

"Correct, though there's a different term for that – it just relates back to my own magic."

The servant girl then placed a finger to her chin in thought. "Say, Master… why is it that you're so nice to me? I thought my master was supposed to be mean and make me do things for them. After all, that's what my parents taught me for the first 14 years of my life. I'm 16 now – and all I've managed to do is be your friend." She pouted slightly, as if she were failing him.

The 24 year-old's gaze flickered toward his companion once, before he faced forward again. "To be honest, I've never had a use for you - but I was ordered to take you in." He stopped briefly when he heard her gasp, "Yet it is of my own decision to give you a pleasant experience with your first master before you're passed on to another after my death. Other can be much more ruthless after all… please be warned, however, as I believe it is less than two fortnights when I will not be coming back to greet you again." The leader of the Second Unit murmured the last part; his servant unable to hear him.

The two fell silent as they continued to walk, the girl taking this time to adsorb the new information. "Master Joste," she then began quietly, "will you be picking my next master though?"

"I've no power to do such a thing." He sighed, pressing his fingers to his temples. "If you're as loyal and as obedient as you are to me, then there shouldn't be too many problems… Well then, it should be about time to head back. I'm sure by now Lady Azalea and Sir Titanus have made their way to the meeting room. You'll be waiting outside until the conference is over."

Nodding, the young girl turned on her heel and quickly followed after her Master, a small smile on her face despite the worry building up inside of her.

.

A door was hastily opened as two guards moved aside for the First Unit's leader. The man had only recently become the leader, taking his master's place after she passed. Being the same age as Titanus, he'd been underestimated until they'd held their annual 'Battle of Units' just over a month ago. No one could ever forget his intellect and ruthlessness on the field – Titanus' Unit was still recovering.

This man, named Sasha Gorlenko, had a height of 6'0 and a lean build. His golden hair stood atop his head like a flame, along with his amber eyes shining into the darkness of the room. On each year was a silver piercing. Stepping forward, his metal plated shoes rung out at his movement, echoing down the stairs. He also wore a tight pair of trousers, clinging to his legs like a second skin. Over his torso was a simple white poncho cloak, revealing that he wore nothing else underneath. His Raider mark was worn over his left pectoral, coloured a shade of red.

"Sir Ares," the guard on the left spoke, using the man's alias to show status, "are you sure you'd like to enter the dungeons? Most prisoners go crazy down there after all."

"No worries." the man simply shrugged, taking a few more steps and letting the darkness consume him. A few moments later, the two men heard the leader faintly call out behind him. "Today's enemies may be tomorrow's friend!"

Sasha continued to head down the dark stairwell, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as small streaks of light began to appear from the dungeon – both created from the small windows in each cell, and the torches that were lit from their place on the walls. Stopping in front of the occupant of the first cell, he knelt down to reach the criminal's height. He could see the hesitation in the woman's eyes, as she shuffled back a little, yet kept a defiant expression.

"Is there something you wanted?" he voice was raspy from dehydration. "Or have you simply come to taunt us again?"

He smirked, "Taunt you? Why, I simply want a casual conversation." He spoke breezily. "What did you even do to be placed down here?"

The woman's expression changed into one of unmasked surprise, and she moved back to her original spot, "You want a conversation? About me?"

"Yes, a conversation." He repeated, showing no signs of irritation, "I mean, I've managed to wander this far… why not make a pit stop and have a chat? Besides, it's much better than listen to Mercy lecture us on keeping up-to-date on everything. Try fitting training, paperwork, meals, conferences, scouting, and undercover work all in one day." He joked.

Perking up the woman gripped the bars of the cell, pressing herself up against them. Sasha used this moment to observe the magic-sealing shackles on her wrists and tattered maid attire. "Y-You're one of the leaders?! Oh please Sire, help me out a little here… I've done nothing wrong and some guards just came and chucked me in here!" A slight accent slipped out in her plea.

Raising his eyebrows he questioned her once more, "What did you happen to do though?"

She slumped, "Well, you see… all I did was slip in the halls whilst I was cleaning, and a vase tipped over and shattered. Next thing I know, I was in here before I could even defend myself. I ain't do nothing but break a vase…" Her body appeared to tremble as she buried her face in her hands – hands that seemed to be rough and callous, along with a few scars here and there. She continued to speak, although muffled, "If ya help me out, I'll definitely return the favour!"

There were a few groans from throughout the dungeon, "Oh hush it will you, lady? We don't need your sob story when we're busy trying to die!"

Ignoring the calls, Sasha stood up with a slight smile, looking as though he were about to free her, "Hmm, is that so? Then I'm sure there must've been a mistake somewhere along the way. But if you're in here, there must be more of a reason for that too. For them to put magic-sealing chains on you when you're just a maid means you must be a danger in the castle grounds."

"W-What do you mean? We all have magic though…?"

Beginning to take his leave, he paused long enough to deliver his final words before he took off back up the stairs, "Working under Mercy or any of the other leaders means your magic is not strong enough to be part of the army – therefore there is no need to waste such handcuffs on you. That, or someone else is currently supposed to be in your place, but they managed to escape without the use of their magic anyway."

Exiting the dungeons, he swiftly made his way to the meeting room. Any later than he already was, and Mercy would surely be sour by the time he arrived. Greeting those in the room with a slight nod, he sat down in the chair next to Titanus before focusing on the conversation. As he'd suspected, they were just finishing with their usual formalities, reports and proposals – the exact reason why he never turned up as they didn't relate so much to his Unit. Besides the Fifth, he was the only leader to have regular contact with Mercy, which was why he didn't need to go through the formalities.

Hidden in the shadows, the person in the corner seemed to cloak themselves in black, their appearance still classified a mystery. "I'm sure you all know the reasons for this abrupt gathering. There are still Trackers deducing how much information has been stolen, or possibly been discovered. As far as we're concerned however, is that this intruder knows about our forthcoming plan for the invasion."

"Well, I had a woman captured and sent to a cell in the castle dungeons, as ours is currently being used as a spare infirmary. She had an unfamiliar face and I had the guards use magic-sealing chains on her just in case. From what I believe, someone may have let her escape." Titanus stated, leaning back in his chair a little.

Wyre tilted his head, "Ah… you mean a woman with the dark blue hair? She was short and had light footsteps as though she were constantly sneaking around. If it was her, then she most definitely escaped back to Gladiolus."

"Are you sure? How could she manage to break out of her cell though?" Azalea interrupted, her eyes wide with confusion. "Why would you let her go? Your magic would never let anyone like that out of your sight. And you train the most highly respected Trackers in the nation. Where's the point in that?"

"She must've known how to break out of the handcuffs – it's easy if you've done it many times before. The woman also seemed very familiar, and so her escape was a deliberate decision – if she has magic she's either part of that organisation in the King's palace, a rogue mage or one from a dark guild." The older man loosened his tie and let out a breath, "And so, I placed one of those specially developed lacrima on her and have been following her tracks for the past week."

Sasha tuned in a little more, interested to see how well this worked out. He was getting tired of waiting around for something interesting to happen. "Oh? And what have you managed to find?"

The commander of the Second Unit hesitated to tell, hiding behind the curtain of his hair for a moment. "And that's where I've encountered a problem. Either her magic type is interfering with the lacrima, or she's lost her left eye."

"I highly doubt she's lose an eye within the space of just a few days." Titanus countered, but then continued on to support Wyre's first theory, "It must be her magic… she was quite hard to sense when I caught her. If it weren't for my magic, I wouldn't have picked up that she was in the room myself."

"If that's so, then it must be true. That lacrima feeds of energy waves to work. That girl must have an aura that solely focuses on undercover operations or something else of the sort. Either way, if she's hard to pick up on, her surroundings must be hard to identify as well…" Azalea frowned. "However when I sent of the prototype to the Second Unit, there were still some things that needed fixing, so you might have picked a dud lacrima to use. If you could give me the coding, I might be able to retrieve some information."

Sasha shook his head, watching Mercy from the corner of his eye, only to find that he kept silent. "We don't know how long that'll take. If the girl knows something, then we could be ambushed before we can generate a counterattack." He chuckled for a short moment afterward, "But of course, I'm always going to be the last to appear, won't I?"

"Ares, such comments are currently unnecessary." Mercy snapped. The male chuckled some more, noting that Mercy was still salty about his late arrival.

"Sorry, Sir."

Wyre cleared his throat, "Moving on… it's really no problem Lady Azalea. I managed to salvage as much as I could as it was. She's a liability to us; she knows more than she should, and so I've already sent Trackers her way for her assassination. However, I've managed to pick up that they are preparing for war against us. I think they are planning to attack within the fortnight."

"That's quite a while away. One would wonder why they weren't already prepared from the get-go." Titanus shook his head in mock disappointment. "For an operation that prides themselves, they sure don't live up to the standards."

"That has nothing to do with us – Wyre may have misheard from what we've gathered. We need to formulate a plan for when the fortnight comes. If we attack early, there's a chance that they're expecting us as it is. We don't know the capabilities of the woman who escaped." Sasha spoke, letting the room fall silent.

"Second Unit." Mercy straightened in his place in the corner of the room, sick of all the chitter-chatter. He seemed to smirk with bloodlust as an idea formed within his mind; after all, Wyre needed to restore his honour after such a mistake on his behalf. "I want you to leave as soon as possible. You've failed me once today by using an underdeveloped product against our enemy, and therefore will only redeem yourself if you bring me back this woman's head. Your armies will enter undercover with you, as your attack will begin from within the borders."

"Yes Sir."

"Fourth Unit, fix any problems in the lacrima – they'll be useful in the future. Also, begin training for your armies to be the first troop to launch the attack."

"The usual, Sir?"

"It will have to do, for now. Third Unit, You'll be the next to launch an attack. Prepare in anyway needed. First Unit, I'm sure you know the drill by now. Do not disappoint me… any of you. Or your head will end up next to the woman's. I believe it would be quite the pretty decoration."

* * *

 **Credits**

 **Azalea Roots - Dusty Watermelon**

 **Titanus Star – Aharvin**

 **Wyre Joste - IdentityCrisis.03**

 **Sasha Gorlenko - Si vera sunt**

 **.**

 **REVIEW CORNER**

 _ **velvet queen;**_ _Thanks for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Hopefully there'll be some action coming along in the next few chapters, but I don't think the big action will come along until a few more chapters into the arc!_

 _ **Wanderstar;**_ _Another update! I hope this is still interesting for you – as I'm a bit slow on updates =.= Anyway, it's great I've portrayed Iris well! I hope I continue doing so as she begins appearing more often!_

 _ **ShadowPhoenix34;**_ _Ahh, thanks for the review! I'm sorry I can't join in with your fandom… I'm not too familiar with it :( But I do understand how Ryuga could relate to a Dragon Emperor… the name means dragon after all! ^_^_

 _ **The delusional Skull;**_ _Thanks for the update! I think I've changed the credits on my profile now! So it should be okay :) and thank you for the review!_

 _ **Benthino;**_ _Thank you for being so patient! I feel kinda bad every time I update so late, but nonetheless, I hope this chapter was to your liking! And this is the official last introduction for Jupiter's Reign, so the next arc is beginning! Unfortunately I'm not very good with arc names… but what's written on my profile will have to do for now XD I just hope it goes as well an I've planned…_

 _ **PoisonBanana;**_ _Well, I'm glad I was able to get Cassia's character across! I had to rewrite her introductions a few times just in case there wasn't enough tsundere. But yes, there are quite a few musicians within the guild, though I suppose it's a main hobby back then in the medieval times. But you never know, music can come in handy at the best of times!_

 _ **Blue Blast;**_ _Thank you! You don't know how much that means for me *sobs* I've never considered myself a genius for that, after all, heaps of other authors in this fandom are progressing much further than me! But thank you, really! Your support makes me super happy! I hope you thoroughly enjoy this chapter as well!_

 _ **Tedri;**_ _A delayed reply is no worry! I most likely won't update for quite a while since I'm in my busiest term of the year. Anyway, banned from your computer?! The horror! In all honesty, I wouldn't survive! As for Cassie the tsundere, I did have a few prompts from the creator of the OC!_

 _ **Grimlock Ebonheart;**_ _Thank you! I hope the introduction of the Raider are okay! They're not as bloodthirsty as one would think them to be! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! In fact all their personalities are quite different, but I think you can't really tell just yet since it's a lot of casual conversation rather than emotion and action... if that makes sense XD_

 _ **Candied Snowflakes;**_ _Hopefully everything will go to plan and everyone will enjoy the arc! And there's not much badass in this chapter unfortunately, but maybe wait until there's a bit of action! And I'm glad I've depicted Cassia well! I added a comical side to it as I feel like things shouldn't be too serious in such a guild – people need some time off to let loose you know? And everyone will make more appearances in the future now! And I suppose the muscles are from the training after all, I didn't put much though into that! Makes me wish I was fit… but in the end I just slave away in front of my laptop XD But that's just my ideal – I'm too much of a lazy sloth for that!_

 **Thank you for all the reviews! For those of you who PM'ed me, I'm so sorry I haven't replied, or took a long time to! I'll try to check more often and reply as much as I can!  
I'm genuinely happy that some of you would like me to read and critique or review your stories… and I would definitely love too, but I currently just don't have the time on my hands. That's why, if you can remember and remind me to do so when it reaches December, that'd be lovely!**

 **Exams are in 2 weeks for me! And they're all one after the other! :O Wish me luck!**

 _ **-Crisis**_


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